Djokovic in final after Kei Nishikori withdraws

Novak Djokovic advanced to the Sony Open final when Kei Nishikori withdrew less than two hours before yesterday's semifinal because of a groin injury. Nishikori won a grueling three-set match against Roger Federer on Wednesday night and also won a three-setter against David Ferrer in the fourth round, when he saved four match points. Nishikori tweeted the news after he tried to practice before the match. "Very disappointed and I am obviously very sorry for any fans," he said. The No. 2-ranked Djokovic will bid for his fourth Key Biscayne title tomorrow against the winner of the other semi-final match between No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 7 Tomas Berdych. Djokovic also received a walkover in the third round and has played only six sets in the tournament. He won the Indian Wells title two weeks ago, when he beat Federer in the final. Regardless of results the rest of the week, Nadal will remain No. 1 and Djokovic No. 2 next week. Former No. 1 Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki advanced to the final in women's doubles by beating Cara Black and Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-4. Early yesterday, Li Na advanced to the women's singles final beating Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Li improved to 7-0 against Cibulkova. She won despite being broken seven times and committing 40 unforced errors, closing out the victory at 12:33 a.m. when Cibulkova hit a final forehand wide. Today, Li will play top-ranked Serena Williams, who beat Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3. The No. 2-ranked Li is only 1-10 against Williams, but she leads the women's tour this year with a record of 21-2, including the Australian Open title in January.

Manchester United deny $3bn Qatari takeover bid

Reports that former Manchester United star David Beckham is to front a Qatari buy-out of the faltering English champions have been dismissed as "rubbish" by the club. According to reports in the British media, ex-England captain Beckham and fellow former United players Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt - all members of the celebrated 'Class of 92' that came through the club's youth system - had met to discuss the idea of getting involved in a $3-billion takeover by the Qatari royal family. Beckham played for Qatar-owned Paris St Germain before retiring last season. However, United officials said they were unaware of any takeover bids and that that, in any event, the current owners, the US-based Glazer family, had no interest at all in selling the club. One takeover that is going ahead, however, is the purchase of non-league Salford by Giggs, Scholes, Butt and the Neville brothers. Salford, near Manchester, was home to The Cliff, United's training ground until 2000 and the place where the 'Class of 92' took their first steps in professional football. Currently, Salford play in the Evo-Stik First Division North, the eighth tier of English football. For Giggs, still playing for United, it means a direct involvement with his home town club. "Everyone knows how important Salford is to me, so this is an exciting acquisition that is right at the heart of what we all believe in," the midfield star said. "We want to engage the football community, use our football experience and knowledge to aspire and nurture young talent and being able to do that in Salford makes it even more exciting."

Facebook drones to spread Internet

Two-thirds of the world population does not have Internet access. Facebook already has more than a billion users on its service, but before it can sign up the rest of world it needs to get them online. The social media company announced a new step in its ambitious plan to bring affordable, basic Internet access to "every person in the world." Facebook's new Connectivity Lab will research and test experimental technology including drones, satellites and lasers to spread the reach of the Internet to isolated locations that currently do not have Internet. "We've been working on ways to beam Internet to people from the sky," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post announcing the new effort. Last year, Facebook announced Internet.org, a coalition of major tech companies working together to lower barriers to Internet access using more traditional methods, such as making it cheaper to get Internet on cell phones. Those efforts have been responsible for getting three million more people online, according to Zuckerberg. This new initiative focuses on experimenting with new technology. The group is working with drones that can stay in the air for months at a time, bringing Internet connections to suburban areas. In more rural spots, satellites will be tested as a way to beam connections to the people on the ground. The group will attempt to make speedier long-distance connections using invisible infrared laser beams. The developers who keep redesigning your Facebook news feed will not be dabbling in satellites and drones. Facebook has brought on aerospace experts from Nasa and the team who built the Zephyr solar-powered drone. Internet access is a cause major technology companies can easily get behind. It's a smart business investment that doubles as a charitable cause. Google announced plans to tackle the issue last summer with its own ambitious Project Loon. Instead of drones, the company is testing giant balloons that travel in the earth's stratosphere for 100 days at a time. Using specialised antennas, the balloons will deliver Internet at 3G speeds. Both companies frame their plans to bring the Internet to the entire world as altruistic, not as a land grab. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates dismissed some of these efforts in an interview with Bloomberg in 2013, saying "when a kid gets diarrhoea, no, there's no website that relieves that." In many of the world's most remote areas, poverty is a more pressing concern than Internet connectivity. People cannot afford electricity or clean water, let alone phones.

Minister of Justice demands Abacha's Assets

Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke has demanded that the $458 million worth of assets that former dictator Sani Abacha stole should be returned to Nigeria. The assets were recently frozen by the United States. Capital FM reports that the Nigerian government had been silent about the freezing of the asses until now. According to the report, Adoke said he was impressed by "the efforts of the United States to recover the (funds) for the benefit of the people of Nigeria". Sahara Reporters reports that funds from the forfeited assets are to be used to fund development projects.

FG allocates N74bn to NYSC scheme annually

Mr Kamil Akinlabi, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Youths Development, says the Federal Government allocates over N74 billion to the National Youths Service Corps ( NYSC) scheme annually. He made the disclosure on Friday when he led members of the committee on oversight visit to the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Wamakko, Sokoto State. According to him, the money, which is being regularly released, is for the payment of corps members’ allowances and other recurrent expenditures of the scheme. “The Federal Government and the National Assembly members are fully committed to the sustenance of the scheme, which has immensely helped in cementing unity among youths in the country.’’ The committee chairman expressed happiness with “the excellent state of facilities at the Wamakko NYSC Orientation Camp’’ and urged other state governments to emulate the Sokoto State Government. The state NYSC Coordinator, Mr Thomas Yamma, also commended Gov. Aliyu Wamakko and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, for their sustained interest and support for the success of the scheme. (NAN)

70 year old man dies having sex with a married woman

BENIN CITY – IT was a shameful death for a 70 years old man identified as David, yesterday, when he slumped and died after having marathon sex with a married woman in a hotel in Benin City. He died at one of the hotels in the Government Reservation Area, Benin City.The incident, according to reports happened at about 1pm. A son to the deceased who did not give his name said his father left home 45 minutes earlier. The son said they were called by the police to come to the Benin Central Hospital only to see the dad’s corpse. Doctors on duty said David was brought stone dead to the hospital. The woman was also present at the hospital but policemen ferried her away to prevent her from being mobed. The corpse was deposited at the Central Hospital mortuary.

Chelsea scouts saw Diego Costa hit Atletico Madrid winner

Chelsea are stepping up their pursuit of Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa. Blues boss Jose Mourinho has made the Brazilian-born Spain forward his top attacking target for the summer market. Representatives of the Blues watched Diego Costa on Wednesday night as he scored in the 1-0 win over Granada.