Lionel Messi ordered to demolish luxury Barcelona hotel in Spain

Lionel Messi has reportedly been ordered to demolish his £26million luxury hotel in Spain after receiving a court order.



The Argentine had bought the building, which has 77 rooms, for €30million (£26.01m), back in 2017.




The building is situated close to the beach and seafront promenade of Sitges, 40km from Barcelona.



However, according to reports in Spain, Sitges Town Hall had already approved the building's demolition before the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner had even purchased the building.




According to El Confidencial, the hotel's balconies are too big and do not meet planning requirements. Any attempts to make the balconies smaller could result in the collapse of the hotel in any case.



There are other issues with the building, with the building's fire plan also failing to meet local standards.



It is understood Messi was previously unaware of the order to demolish the building until recently.

Gambia's incumbent President, Adama Barrow secures second term

Adama Barrow has been re-elected as the President of Gambia, the country's electoral commission said on Sunday December 5.



Barrow, whose assumption of the presidency five years ago ended more than 20 years of dictatorship, garnered more than 53 percent of the vote, according to results released by the electoral commission. His main challenger Ousainou Darboe won 27.7 percent.



The vote was the first in 27 years without former President Yahya Jammeh, who was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept defeat to Barrow in 2016.



Once cowed by Jammeh's omnipresent secret police, crowds of people hit the streets of Banjul on Sunday night to celebrate, while some drove about in their cars celebrating. Hundreds gathered in a park opposite the presidential palace to listen to Barrow speak.



He told a cheering crowd;




“Democracy has taken its course.

“I have been the lucky person to be chosen by you. I'll use all the resources to make Gambia a better place for all.”



Barrow's first term provided a welcome change for many to Jammeh's brutal tenure. But progress was hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic, which damaged an economy that relies heavily on tourism, as well as exports of peanuts and fish.



In the run-up to the election, Jammeh had tried to persuade supporters to vote for an opposition coalition in telephoned speeches that were relayed to campaign rallies.



As results came in on Sunday, representatives from all opposition parties signed off on nearly all the tally sheets read to the election commission.



But later in the day, Darboe and two other candidates, Mama Kandeh and Essa Mbye Faal, said they would not accept the results because the results took longer than expected and because of problems at polling stations.



They did not provide specifics or evidence of wrongdoing, and also never disclosed what they would do.

Update: Joey Barton found not guilty of assaulting former Barnsley coach Daniel Stendel

Joey Barton has been found not guilty of assaulting then Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel.

Barton, now in charge of Bristol Rovers, was Fleetwood Town's boss at the time of the incident at Oakwell in April 2019.

The former Premier League footballer was cleared at Sheffield Crown Court of pushing over Stendel in the tunnel at the end of a match, leaving him bloodied and with a broken tooth.

When Barton gave evidence last week, the 39-year-old denied it was him who shoved Stendel after a League One match between his Fleetwood team and the South Yorkshire side on April 13, 2019.

Mr Stendel told a jury how he was walking down the tunnel in the corner of Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium after his side's 4-2 victory when he was knocked over by a push from behind, causing him to hit his face on the metal structure.

Video footage shown during the trial showed Mr. Stendel entering the tunnel followed by Barton, jogging, a moment later.

The jury took under two hours to find Barton not guilty of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a week-long trial.

After leaving the court, Barton said: "I think the verdict speaks for itself." Asked how he felt, he said: "Better than I did before."

He left the building with his solicitor, who said his client did not wish to comment.

The 10-person jury heard how the incident in the tunnel happened after a second-half which featured tensions between the coaching staff of the two sides, with Fleetwood's assistant manager, Clint Hill, receiving a yellow card.

Jurors were shown mobile phone footage of the handshake between the two managers at the end of the match during which, Mr. Stendel told the jury, Barton was aggressive towards him.

Barton admitted using "industrial language" during the handshake but denied he was aggressive and said there had not been tensions between the two managers during the match. He explained that he had only tried to explain to Mr. Stendel that, if they did not control their coaching staff, they might be personally liable to substantial fines from the league.

Barton pointed out that, after the handshake, he had a friendly chat with a Barnsley player about his time playing for the French team Marseille and also the referee, before he headed for the tunnel.

He said he began to jog because he wanted to get into the dressing room ahead of his players. He said the video footage showed him weaving through the crowded tunnel towards the stand.

Barton stood in the dock for the verdict wearing a dark suit over a white shirt with a dark tie.

He was immediately told he could leave the court by Judge Jeremy Richardson QC.

Pirates abduct security operative and Conoil workers in Bayelsa

An operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and four civilians attached to the kitchen contractor working with the Conoil Plc located in Koluama 1 in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of Bayelsa state have been abducted by pirates.

The victims were abducted while on their way to Koluama 1 with supplies for the kitchen contractor on Wednesday December 1.

Daily Trust reported that the abducted NSCDC official has been identified simply as Kalifa and he is an indigene of Igarra in Edo State. It was also gathered that the sea pirates are demanding N25million for their release.

Locals who informed journalists that the abducted officials are working for Conoil along the creeks, hinted that the community youths are making efforts to secure the release of the abducted persons unharmed.

Spokesman of the NSCDC in Bayelsa State, Solomon Ogbere confirmed the incident. He said;


“It’s a confirmed story. One of our officers and four civilians were kidnapped last Wednesday while heading to their location where they protect ConOil facilities.

“They were all on mufti while returning to their base when they were attacked. Investigation is ongoing to track down the culprits."


This is coming days after gunmen killed an NSCDC official and two oil workers, and reportedly abducted seven others at the creek of Nembe local government area of Bayelsa state.

UNIPORT student conducts research into ‘Womanising And Ashawoism’ as final-year project

A sociology undergraduate at the University Of Port Harcourt has picked an interesting topic to work on as a final year project.



The unidentified student picked the topic, “Prevalence And Pattern Of Womanizing And Ashawoism Among Undergraduate Male Students Of Medicine And Surgery/Dentistry (MBBS/BDS) Department In The University Of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”




A Twitter user @KelvinOssai shared s screenshot of the project's back cover on Social media

#GambiaDecides: Darboe’s supporters besiege streets, protest election results

Some supporters of leading opposition candidate in the Gambian presidential election, Ousainou Darboe, on Sunday, besieged the streets of Gambia to protest results of the ongoing elections.


Mr Darboe’s supporters gathered outside the compound of the opposition leader Sunday evening as the UDP candidate announced his rejection of the results.


The UDP supporters also trooped out and occupied the Pipeline area and other adjoining streets, chanting ‘Sachembo!’—meaning ‘thieves’ in the local Wollof dialect.


By 2p.m. on Sunday, the IEC had only announced 41 of the 53 constituencies with President Adama Barrow leading Mr Darboe and others comfortably.


The 2021 election is Mr Darboe’s fifth attempt to gain access to the presidency. The frontline opposition leader contested in the 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011 elections, but lost in all.


Ahead of the 2016 election, he was arrested for protesting against activist Solo Sendeng’s death in detention, and was consequently jailed.


On Saturday, Gambians trooped out to vote and many polling stations closed on time at 5p.m.


Mr Darboe and MP Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) have both pledged not to run for the presidency again.


On Sunday, 73-year-old Mr Darboe said he is consulting with his advisers on the next line of action. He, however, advised his supporters to remain calm and peaceful.


The UDP supporters remained at the entrance of Mr Darboe’s house protesting the results as of press time Sunday evening.


Many wielded placards with different inscriptions and messages demanding ‘justice’.