Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said Tuesday he will retire at the end of the season unless Juventus win the Champions League.

The 39-year-old plans to bring the curtain down on his career after the 2018 World Cup, but if Juventus triumph in Europe he could continue on to try to add the Club World Cup to his collection.

“There’s no margin (to change mind) because I’m quite convinced of the choices I’ve made,” Buffon, who was named as the goalkeeper of the year at FIFA’s The Best awards on Monday, told Sky Sport.

“This is my last season and I’m pretty sure of the choices I make. One or two more years wouldn’t add or take away from what I’ve already achieved.”


“The only way would be to win the Champions League,” he continued, suggesting that he would share the role with his understudy Wojciech Szczesny at the Club World Cup.

“At that point, to try to win the Club World Cup, maybe Szczesny could play one game and me another,” suggested Buffon, who has played 633 times for Juventus and 173 matches for Italy.

“But I think with a goalkeeper like him behind it is normal that next year I’ll stand aside.”

Juventus, European champions in 1985 and 1996, have finished runners-up in the Champions League twice in the past three years.

Adelani Adepegba, Abuja 

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said more time should be given to Nigerians in the diaspora to register for the bank verification number.

She made the plea in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja in response to the move by the Federal Government to seize monies in accounts without BVN.

The presidential aide in the statement by his media assistant, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, implored the Central Bank to make it possible for all Nigerians in the Diaspora to have their BVN done in their countries of abode.

It said, “Nigerians in the diaspora have been remitting billions of US dollars back to the country on yearly basis, the highest on the continent of Africa, thus contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

“I hereby appeal to the CBN to look into the challenges the Nigerians living abroad face in getting their BVN done and extend the deadline for them to get it done.”

Dabiri-Erewa also pleaded with the commercial banks to make the procedure easier for their customers, especially those living outside the country, to be able to meet up with the new deadline.

“This is why the Attorney-General of the Federation should intervene in this matter to assist Nigerians living abroad who are disadvantaged by allowing them more time to comply with the BVN directive,” she said. 

Currently, deposits can be made into accounts without BVN but not withdrawals.

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, has urged members of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group to participate in the forthcoming bid round for 30 marginal oil fields.

A statement by NNPC Spokesperson, Mr Ndu Ughamadu in Abuja on Friday, said Baru made the call when he received a delegation of IPPG, led by its Chairman, Mr Ademola Adeyemi-Bero.

Baru, who said that Federal Government would soon inaugurate the bid, also urged IPPG members to take advantage of the low crude oil price regime to develop their capacity and acquire more technology.

According to him, there are lots of opportunities in the marginal fields which will soon be available.

He also urged IPPG to work closely with the Department of Petroleum Resources to meet the conditions required from the bidders.

“The marginal oil field lease renewal is an opportunity for your group.

“You will need to engage the DPR early in discussion to find out the conditions that the Federal Government is interested in.

“For example, the supply of gas to power plants and fertiliser plants and I think your group will be successful,” Baru advised.

The NNPC GMD also urged IPPG members to ramp up their collective production from 10 per cent of national production to 50 per cent in the next 10 years.

He said the development would increase the footprint of indigenous companies in the upstream sub-sector and the downstream.

The NNPC boss said that the corporation was passionate about collaborating with the indigenous producers to grow their capacity and participation in the exploration and production sub-sector.

This, he said was in line with government’s local content policy.

He said the corporation was proud of IPPG members and looking forward to a time when about 90 per cent of upstream operations in the country would be controlled by them.

Baru also commended members of the group for their productive community engagement which he noted had stemmed pipeline sabotage along the Trans Forcados Pipeline.

He, however, enjoined them to extend the similar gesture to the communities around the other crude oil lines, to help stabilise national production.

Earlier, Adeyemi-Bero said that the group was made up of 25 active indigenous producers.

He said that the members were driven by the passion to support the 12 business focus areas of the current management of NNPC and the seven big wins of the Federal Government.

Adeyemi-Bero thanked the Federal Government for initiating the Joint Venture cash call exit programme, stressing that the move would increase the activities of members of the group in the upstream sub-sector.

IPPG was formed a year ago with the mandate to promote and advance the collective interest of members in a coordinated manner.

It is also a unified advocacy platform for Federal Government policies in the upstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry.

As we age and our metabolisms slow, it's easy to pack on a few pounds without realizing it. But a study has found that making consistent changes to your eating habits can lead to big weight-loss results over time.

The 2015 study, first published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed the dietary habits of over 120,000 people for 16 years and found that those who ate foods that had a high glycemic load (which includes refined grains, starches, and sugars) gained more weight than those who ate foods with a low glycemic load (foods such as nuts, dairy, and certain fruits and vegetables). This isn't surprising or new; other research has shown that going lower on the glycemic index (GI) scale will help you lose weight. What is interesting in the new study, however, is that other key habits can mean the difference between pounds on the scale. Check out what else the researchers found about weight gain and loss:

• Those who ate more yogurt, seafood, skinless chicken, and nuts lost the most weight; in fact, the more people ate of these foods, the less weight they gained.
• The researchers found, however, no difference in weight gain in those who ate low-fat vs full-fat dairy.
• Diets with more red and processed meat intake were associated with weight gain, especially when meat was paired with refined grains or starches.
• Eating meat paired with low-GI foods, however (like vegetables), helped reduce weight gain.
• Eating foods like eggs and cheese along with high-GI foods was linked to weight gain, while eating these foods with low-GI foods led to weight loss.

Barcelona remain confident they will get Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, if they offer the Premier League club up to €150million.

The La Liga giants feel that Coutinho’s souring relationship with the Anfield side, could work in their favour too.

In the last week, Barca confirmed the club-record signing of Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of €105million, but are ready to smash it again.

Four days ago, a source in Spain told Sky Sports: “Philippe has never been more determined to leave Liverpool.

“To suggest Barca are thinking of backing out and calling it a day, is absolute nonsense.

“They’re all in now; their cards are on the table and they’ll never give up the fight.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr., the face of boxing for more than a decade, punctuated a stellar yet controversial career with a technical knockout over U.F.C. champ and first-time boxer Conor McGregor on Saturday night.

In the 10th round of a surprisingly competitive fight, Mayweather backed McGregor onto the ropes with a series of rights and lefts. McGregor’s face was completely bloodied. He was about to fall through the ropes, and the referee stepped in to stop the fight with 1:55 remaining in the round.

“I gave the fans what they wanted to see,” Mayweather said after the fight. “I told them that I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I must come straight ahead and give them a show.”

The victory improved Mayweather’s record to 50-0, and allowed the typically defensive fighter to say farewell in thrilling fashion in what he said was his last fight. It also proved right the naysayers who said that this fight was nothing more than a glorified, money-making exhibition.

Mayweather said the fight was not going to go the distance, and he delivered on that promise. Things went just the way that most pundits said they would. McGregor would have no way of connecting cleanly with Mayweather. He landed a few touch punches but nothing solid the entire fight. And given that U.F.C. fights are much shorter than boxing matches, McGregor’s stamina was in question. And he certainly seemed to tire in the late rounds as Mayweather made easy work of him.

Although McGregor is one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts, he had not boxed since he was a teenager, and had no professional boxing matches under his belt.

The fight was fashioned on the strength of two bombastic personalities with huge fan bases, making for a ripe promotional draw. It was expected to pull more than half a billion dollars in revenue. The pull of the money was so strong that Mayweather ended his two-year retirement to step into the ring with McGregor. To many, the fight was more exhibition than authentic.

In a paper published in Nature, scientists from Stanford University used 68 million days worth minute by minute of data to measure where in the world people took the most steps each day.

At the top were the people of Hong Kong, who took and average of 6,880 steps per day.

Indonesians came last, travelling only 3,513 a day.

The data came from over 700,000 people using the Argus activity monitoring app on their smart phones.

Brits took an average of 5,444 steps per day.

Scott Delp, a professor of bio-engineering involved in the story, told the BBC:

The study is 1,000 times larger than any previous study on human movement.

There have been wonderful health surveys done, but our new study provides data from more countries, many more subjects, and tracks people's activity on an ongoing basis.

This opens the door to new ways of doing science at a much larger scale than we have been able to do before.

Use plastic and foil liners religiously: From pans to refrigerators to ovens, lining just about anything with plastic or aluminum foil is a lazy person's key to a tidy kitchen. The secret? Just peel away the liner after use, and your bowl, plate, or baking sheet is instantly clean again. (Use plastic wrap for cold foods and aluminum foil or parchment paper for the oven.) Here are more 

11 Brilliant Cleaning Shortcuts Lazy People Will Appreciate

'Activity inequality'

The researchers found that the biggest signifier of obesity wasn't how lazy a country was as a whole, but how much of a gap there was between 'fittest' and 'laziest'.

Essentially the bigger the gap, the fatter the country.

Delp explained by drawing a comparison to income inequality.

If you think about some people in a country as ‘activity rich’ and others as ‘activity poor,’ the size of the gap between them is a strong indicator of obesity levels in that society.

Another scientist on the project Jure Leskovec commented on the 'activity inequality' which disproportionately affected women.

When activity inequality is greatest, women’s activity is reduced much more dramatically than men’s activity, and thus the negative connections to obesity can affect women more greatly

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata for about £60m.

The Spain international must now agree personal terms and pass a medical to complete the transfer.

The 24-year-old would be the Premier League champions' fourth signing of the summer, after goalkeeper Willy Caballero, defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.

Morata scored 20 goals last season after rejoining Real from Juventus.

He won La Liga and the Champions League, but the majority of his appearances were as a substitute.

Morata could replace Spain team-mate Diego Costa, who says he has been told by manager Antonio Conte that he is no longer in Chelsea's plans.

Manchester United had been interested in Morata prior to signing Everton striker Romelu Lukaku for an initial £75m.

"I'm going to the team managed by the coach who has placed the most faith in me, and that's great for me," Morata told AS on Wednesday.

Morata joined Real Madrid's youth team in 2008 and was handed his senior debut aged 18 in 2010.

The 6ft 3in striker moved to Italy in 2014, scoring 27 goals in two years for Juventus, winning both Serie A and the Coppa Italia twice and playing in the 2015 Champions League final.

Real exercised a buy-back option in June 2016 to take him back to the Bernabeu.

Morata has won 20 caps for Spain, scoring nine goals, since his international debut in 2014.

Chelsea fans punching air over Morata - Nevin

Analysis

European football journalist Mina Rzouki on BBC Radio 5 live

If you offered me the choice between Morata and Lukaku, I wouldn't even think about it.

I would pay £20m or £30m more if I had to and I would bring in Morata.

That is because I would always prefer an intelligent player in my team. Even if he doesn't score as many goals, even if he doesn't do whatever he needs to.

If he is more intelligent then he can be moulded quicker, he can do what he needs to do. And Morata has Champions League experience. He was second top scorer for Real Madrid despite not starting.

He has done it at Juventus and he has done it at Real Madrid.

He understands, he has the pace, he is intelligent, he links up play, he can be a counter-attacking threat.

The stats

Morata's conversion rate last season was 27%, the highest of any striker to score 10 or more goals in La Liga in 2016-17; he scored 15 goals from 55 shots.

Morata's goals won Real Madrid 13 points in La Liga last season; only Cristiano Ronaldo won more for the side with 15.

Barcelona on Monday announced record income of €708 million for 2016/2017 with an after-tax profit of €18 million.

The Spanish giants said the healthy revenue was up €13m on the forecast figure in their budget for the period.

A statement following the approval of the accounts at a board meeting disclosed the club has reduced its debt by €24.5m to €247m.

The salaries of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and co account for 66 percent of Barcelona’s expenditure, the statement added.

Barça say that the financial results fit into the club’s strategic plan for revenue to top one billion euros by 2021.

The Catalan side are ranked the fourth most valuable sports team in the world after the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and Manchester United by Forbes magazine.

Last season Barcelona relinquished their Spanish title to Real Madrid and were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Juventus who went on to lose to Barca’s arch-rivals Real in the final in Cardiff.

Meanwhile, new Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde on Monday laughed off the idea of bringing in new players, saying the best signings were the players already in the dressing room.

“I’m more than happy with the way things stand,” said Valverde when pressed on the potential signing of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti.

“Happy with the players, happy with their work and their attitude,” he said as his players prepare for their trip to the United States on Wednesday.

“I really don’t care about any player anywhere else,” he said, knowing fans will be keen to win back the Spanish League title and indeed the Champions League, both won by their arch-rivals Real Madrid.

“Even if you might argue we need back up in certain areas,” he said, adding Barcelona had no offers on the table for any of their players either.

“For me, the best signings are the players I already have in my team.”

He said Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, Barcelona’s attacking trident were “a huge factor in the intimidation of our rivals.”

There was pandemonium, weekend, at Ikot Effanga Mkpa, a community on the outskirt of Calabar, Cross River State, when newly wedded couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kabiru Mohammed, aged 32 years and 27 years respectively, died as a result of generator emission in their rented apartment.

The couple, according to reports, got married two months ago in Jos where they were domiciled before relocating to Cross River.

The landlady of the house situated on plot 1, Ikot Effanga Mkpa New Layout, Stella Uruaka, said that she had severally warned the couple to stop using the generator in their apartment since she observed the inclination.

Her words: “I know Kabiru as a truck mechanic from Oyo State and was based in Jos, while the wife, Omowunmi too, was in Jos before she joined him in Calabar after their wedding, two months ago.

“When they packed in newly, about eight weeks ago, they were keeping the generator outside but I do not really know what happened that made them change their mind to be keeping it inside the house.

“Each time they switch on the generator, the noise and smoke usually disturbed me because their bathroom is close to my room. I complained bitterly about the generator, but instead of taking it outside, the couple decided to keep it in their kitchen,” she disclosed.

She said that on that day, they switched on the generator as usual and surprisingly, the generator was on till about 2.00a.m in the early hours of Saturday and then went off.

Call by deceased younger brother: Her daughter, who also spoke to our reporter, said she got a call from Kabiru’s younger brother, Jide, who complained that Kabiru was not picking calls to his phone and asked her to check if he was in.

“I told him I will call him back, but he insisted that I should go and knock on their door, which I did, but no one answered. So I told him that whenever I see them, I will inform him.

“Suddenly, we saw the young boy who normally helped them to sweep the house and do some chores come around with his father and they started calling Kabiru’s phone and then opened the window and saw both of them lying down lifeless in the sitting room, I told the man that they cannot possibly be sleeping.

”So we informed the police and the door was broken and we saw their lifeless bodies in the sitting room, water was already coming out of Kabiru’s mouth, the whole place was still filled with the fume and smoke from the generator and the people, who entered the flat were coughing consistently,” she stated.

Speaking further, she said the police came and asked them to take photographs, but since the cause of death was already established, nothing else was done, their remains were taken back to Jos for burial because they were both Muslims”.

According to her, they were just too young to die in such a tragic manner, the man was 32, while the lady was 27 years old and they had no child yet.

“My mother warned them about the generator they kept inside their apartment, but they did not listen. We are still in shock, my mother is yet to recover from the incident, including the entire neighbourhood, Ikot Effanga Mkpa I community, it is a big tragedy,” she bemoaned.