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The French international has come under public scrutiny for his labored performances in recent games, most notably against Chelsea and Swansea Citeven though he scord there, but he has been accused of not giving his 100% in games while being found guilty of going missing in big games where Arsenal have suffered heavily this campaign. Despite his goal tally of 19 goals in all competitions this time around, not many are happy with his performances and with many calling for a new and a more mobile and pacy striker up front. There were sections of the media who also believed that the 27-year old will be offloaded by the Gunners who will replace him with a big money striker in the summer. However, Giroud’s agent has now come out in the open and has publicly dismissed such baseless rumors, while maintaining that on the contrary, the attacker intends to sit down with the club and sign a new deal at the end of the season.

Bold and Suave! OC Ukeje is the cover star for Bubbles Magazine ‘s new issue. Bubbles is known for picking music stars for its covers, so it was refreshing to see an actor on the cover for a change. The urban and hip publication dubs OC Nollywood’s new leading man, and the honour is well deserved. OC has been one to watch out for ever since his breakout role in 2008′s White Waters alongside Rita Dominic and Joke Silva . His résumé just got better starring alongside Genevieve Nnaji, Onyeka Onwenu, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton in the anticipated Half of a Yellow Sun . by bellanaija.com

The Presidency has said that it will not probe the allegations of misappropriation of  public funds levelled against the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told Saturday PUNCH on Friday, that the Federal Government would not set up a probe panel to investigate the minister because the House of Representatives was currently probing her. Alison-Madueke was alleged to have spent N10bn on a chartered Challenger 850 aircraft in two years for which the House of Representatives is currently probing her. Okupe said that the Federal Government could not institute a probe panel on matters that had not been substantiated. Okupe, who spoke to one of our correspondents in a telephone interview in Abuja, on Friday, said since the House of Representatives had started investigating the matter, the right thing to do was to wait for the outcome of such a probe before any further ...

The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the global fight against the threat of nuclear terrorism, but said that Nigeria, under his leadership, will continue to pursue efforts to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development. In his statement to the third Global Security Summit which opened at The Hague in the Netherlands on Monday, President Jonathan upheld the view that international and regional cooperation efforts should be based on the principle of maintaining a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the inalienable right of States to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy for development purposes.  “While this is important, we would also like to draw attention to the need to maintain the highest standards of nuclear safety and security in establishing peaceful nuclear facilities,” the President said.

Malaysian Prime Minister during a press conference about an hour ago said they believe they have located the plane the whole world has been searching for in the last 16 days. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended deep in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Australia, Prime Minister Najib Razak said today, citing a new analysis of satellite data by a British satellite company and accident investigators. The Prime Minister said all lives were lost and relatives of passengers and crew have been informed of the 'heartbreaking' news. Some families of the passengers on the missing plane are now due to be booked on to flights to take them to Australia, where the plane is believed to have ended up. How did a plane going from Malaysia to China end up in the Southern Indian Ocean? by linda ikeji

The Senate Committee on Interior will Tuesday begin a two-day public hearing on the unfortunate tragedy that occurred during the recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigerian Immigration Service two weeks ago. No fewer than 16 people died during the NIS recruitment exercise penultimate Saturday across the country. The development made the Senate to direct its Committee on Interior to carry out public Investigative hearing on the tragedy. The public hearing according to the Clerk of the Senate Committee,  Mr. Isah Garba, would hold at the Conference Hall 0231 in the Senate new building by 10:00am each day. Our correspondent learnt that the committee had invited the Minister of Interior,  Mr. Abba Moro, and the Comptroller General of the NIS, Mr. David Parradang, to appear before it on the two days.

SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) - A Chinese military aircraft searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner spotted several "suspicious" floating objects on Monday in remote seas off Australia, increasing the likelihood that the wreckage of the plane may soon be found. The latest sighting followed reports by an Australian crew over the weekend of a floating wooden pallet and strapping belts in an area of the icy southern Indian Ocean that was identified after satellites recorded images of potential debris. Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8. No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since and there is no clue what went wrong. Attention and resources in the search for the Boeing 777 have shifted from an initial focus north of the equator to an increasingly narrowed stretch of rough sea in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles ...

FEODOSIA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian troops forced their way into a Ukrainian marine base in the Crimean port city of Feodosia early on Monday, overrunning one of the few symbols of resistance left after Moscow wrestled the peninsula away from Kiev, defending soldiers inside said. The Russians used stun grenades and fired automatic weapons as they charged in, a Ukrainian military official said. Ukrainian flags had been taken down from flagpoles inside the base. Ukrainian army officer, First Lieutenant Anatoly Mozgovoy, told Reuters by phone from inside the compound that the Russians had fired shots and the Ukrainian soldiers were unarmed. Asked if the base had been taken over, he said: "Yes". "The invading troops were using stun grenades and also firing automatic weapons. The interior of the compound is full of Russian troops," said Vladislav Seleznyov, a Ukrainian military spokesman in Crimea. Russian forces had already captured part of the b...

Refrigeration hasn’t changed in more than 100 years. Consumers have learnt blithely to accept energy-guzzling fridges that periodically need defrosting, or develop mysterious warm pockets. Existing systems also require a consistent power supply, which is a huge challenge for vaccine storage in the developing world. Now, one British inventor has developed a new cooling technology, as simple and cheap to make as a bottle of water, that is set to revolutionise the refrigeration industry. Ian Tansley has created a system that remains cold for up to 12 days without power. It maintains a consistent temperature throughout the fridge, eliminating the hot and cold fluctuations. The impact of such technology is significant. Not only can vaccines be safely transported to off-grid rural areas in developing nations where diseases such as polio still claim hundreds of lives each year, the massive energy savings will benefit both people and planet. Tansley’s Snowdonia-based firm, Sure...

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday queried the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro; and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. David Paradang, over the loss of 18 lives during the NIS recruitment on Saturday. The 18 died during stampedes at the venues of the NIS recruitment in different parts of the country. The deaths have generated national uproar.  The presidential query for the minister and the NIS CG came as the wife of the Senate President David Mark, Helen, denied reported relationship with the consultants that handled the exercise. Mark’s wife, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser (Media) to the President of the Senate, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan,  said she was shocked by media reports (not  The PUNCH ) of her involvement in the exercise. She said the reports were based on a rumour and “a mere fabrication of the imagination of those behind it.” “I have no relationships of any sorts and in whatever form with the said consul...

    Tomas Rosicky scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Totteham1-0 in the north London derby at White Hart Lane. The Czech smashed home a superb strike, after good work from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in just the second minute to seal victory and pour more misery on Tim Sherwood's men. Arsenal could have scored more goals.What they needed is the three-point.

C o Creation Hub, CCHub, is a social innovation centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. Following the success of the 2013 MTN App Developer Challenge, CCHub has partnered with MTN to launch the first-of-its-kind Mobile Experience Lab, MxLab based on the need to bridge the gap between users and digital service providers in Nigeria. Continue...