Chelsea FC player, Callum Hudson-Odoi who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday night has disclosed that he has recovered from the flu-like virus.

In a new video he shared on Instagram, the footballer revealed that he is currently following all the laid-out guidelines for the disease and hopes to get back to playing football soon.

Hudson-Odoi wrote;

Thank you for all your good wishes, as I said in the video I’m feeling good and hope to see you all soon

Recall Chelsea reacted to Hudson-Odoi's positive coronavirus test by partially closing their training facilities, with Saturday's scheduled Premier League meeting with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge now likely to be postponed.

The Blues have also cancelled Frank Lampard's usual pre-match news conference, with the entire men's squad, coaching staff and backroom staff set to join Hudson-Odoi in self-isolation.

19-year-old Hudson-Odoi is the first Premier League player publicly confirmed to have the virus which has so far infected at least 596 and killed 10 in the UK. A number of other Premier League teams have sent players away to self-isolate, with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers confirming 3 players had symptoms.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has announced a second case of Coronavirus in Ogun state.

Ehanire announced this today Monday March 9 at a press conference in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Ehanire briefed reporters at the boardroom of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, where he gave an update on the coronavirus infection in the country. According to him, the second case met with the Italian patient during his visit to Ewekoro in Ogun state in February.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II has been dethroned. This was announced at a special sitting of the Kano executive council chaired by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of the state today Monday March 9th.

Usman Alhaji, secretary to the state government, who announced the dethronement, said it is with immediate effect. He added that a new emir will be announced shortly.

The deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has reportedly been arrested and banished to a community in Nasarawa State. The Nation reports that shortly after his dethronement was announced, security operatives arrested Sanusi and whisked him out of the ancient city amidst tight security.

It was gathered that the security operatives are heading to Nassarawa state where he will spend the rest of his life in asylum.

The security agents have reportedly sealed off the palace.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has begun a two- week warning strike which begins today Monday, March 9th.

National President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, announced this at end of the National Executive Council meeting(NEC) held at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT).

He said the strike action was to compel Federal government to implement the agreements and resolutions of Memorandum of Action discussed in the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the 2017 Memorandum of Action (MoU), all of which have not been implemented.

Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading financial institution, has again emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the recently released Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020.

For the third consecutive year, Zenith Bank has been ranked as the number one banking brand in Nigeria with a brand value of $287 million and market capitalisation of $1.62 billion, ranking 392 in the 2020 global ranking of banks.

Zenith Bank declares 30 kobo per share dividend

The ranking was published in the February 2020 edition of The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group in conjunction with London-based Brand Finance.

According to the publication, brand value is the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use the bank’s brand. All brand values in the report are for the year ending December 31, 2019.

Zenith Bank has clearly distinguished itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service quality, unique customer experience and sound financial indices. The bank, with a knack for setting the pace and raising benchmarks, is a clear leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed and safety of transactions.

In an apparent show of its resilience and market leadership, Zenith Bank recently announced an impressive result for the year ended December 31, 2019, with profit after tax (PAT) of N208.8 billion, achieving the feat as the first Nigerian Bank to cross the N200 billion mark.

Consistent with this excellent performance and in recognition of its track record of exceptional performance, Zenith Bank was voted as the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto & Co. The bank was also recognised as Bank of the Year and Best Bank in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards. Most recently, the bank emerged as the Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the Thisday Awards 2020.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has ordered the arrest of two senior members of the royal family, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, and Mohammed bin Nayef, the king's nephew over an alleged coup attempt.

They were taken from their homes early on Friday by black-clad royal guards, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding that they have been accused of treason.

The Saudi royal court has accused the two men, once potential contenders for the throne, of 'plotting a coup to unseat the king and crown prince' and could face lifetime imprisonment or execution, the newspaper said.

Prince Nayef, a once powerful figure as head of Saudi counter-terrorism efforts, had been crown prince until 2017 when King Salman took away the title and put his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman, first in line for the throne.

Mohammed bin Nayef's younger brother, Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, was also detained.

The detentions were not announced by the Saudi government but the information were disclosed by a member of the royal family.

A former senior American official also confirmed the detentions of the senior members of Royal family.

The detentions mark the latest crackdown by Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler of the kingdom, who has consolidated his grip on power with several imprisonments of prominent people.

Prince Mohammed was also embroiled in a major scandal over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October 2018.

He was accused of ordering the journalist's murder, and the killing sparked calls for him to be replaced as Crown Prince.

A key element in Zenith Bank Plc’s profit earning growth in 2019 could help the bank “fend off a potential recessionary coronavirus-induced economic blowback”.

Saheed Kiaribe, Director of Research at Proshare Nigeria, said, “The shift in the rise of non-interest income may sterilize the bank’s P&L statement from uncertainties surrounding interest income and CBN credit and liquidity policies.”

Zenith Bank posted an impressive PAT (profit after tax) growth of N208.8 billion ($570m) ahead of Chapel Hill Denham Securities’ forecast of 6% on stronger than expected Q4-19 performance.

The 18.0% YoY profit after tax growth in Q4-19 was “notably” driven by non-interest income, which grew by 47.1% YoY and 60.3% QoQ, according to Chapel Hill.

The bank’s profit after tax grew 8.0% in 2019 compared to N193 billion ($530m) from 2018.

 “In our view, the growth in fees on electronic products (+160.0% YoY in Q4-19 and +108.2% YoY in FY-19) reflects the positive impact of the bank’s digital drive, which we expect to support further growth in e-banking transaction volumes in FY-20E amid the reduction in charges,” analysts at Chapel Hill said in a note to investors.

Overall, the bank’s growth was driven by a 29% increase in non-interest income from N179.9 billion in 2018 to N231.1 billion in 2019, as well as a slow 2.8% y/y uptick in operating expenses, according to Abiodun Keripe, Head of Investment Research at Afrinvest.

Chapel Hill’s said, however, that it was concerned that net interest margin contracted to 5.8% in FY-19 from 6.8% in FY-18 due to lower yields on loans and investment securities. Despite the robust loan growth in FY-19, interest income on loans fell by 43.7% as our estimated yield on loans fell to 7.7% in FY-19 from 10.9% in FY-18.

“With lower yields on investment securities so far in FY-20E and the 500bps increase in CRR, we expect the bank’s NIM to remain under pressure in Q1-20E,” Chapel Hill said, although it has a buy rating on the bank with a 12-month target price of N32.52, “which implies a total return of 81% (capital gain of 68% and dividend yield of 13%). Zenith is currently trading at a FY-20E P/B of 0.7x against our coverage average P/B of 0.6x.”

A disconnect between stock performance and the bank’s earning

Zenith Bank Plc has traded between N16.20 per share and N26.02 per share in the past year, trading at a discount to book value with a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 0.71 despite an 8% growth in PAT, when compared to Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB)’s 1.31 and Stanbic IBTC at 1.36, as at February 24.

This has led many to wonder whether something was missing.

“There is obviously a disconnect between the stock performance of Zenith Bank, which also is reflective of the overall equities market performance in recent years, and the quality of earnings being reported by the bank. Zenith is currently the second-largest bank in Nigeria with a total asset size of N6.3 trillion ($1.7 trillion) as of 2019 FY. The bank operates over 500 branches in Nigeria and in other countries including Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, United Kingdom, and representative offices in South Africa and the People’s Republic of China,” said Keripe at Afrinvest.

“Speaking to the earnings, Zenith Bank reported impressive 2019FY PAT driven by a slow 2.8% y/y uptick in operating expenses and supported by growth in non-interest revenue. Fees and commission were up 22.0% y/y while the “other income line” grew by 34.5% y/y underpinned by 46.9% y/y jump in trading income.

“Though there was a compression in net interest income (down 9.7% y/y), it still accounts for more than 50% of the Bank’s total operating income. Lower interest rate environment in the last quarter of 2019 impacted negatively on the net interest income in the face of a rigid asset/liability structure. The stock market performance remains weak given weak sentiment and low domestic institutional participation,” Keripe added.

With 2020 starting off on a slow note, Proshare’s Kiaribe thinks Zenith Bank’s guidance numbers for the year are beginning to look increasingly optimistic, “but a lot will depend on the moving domestic and international economic parts in Q1 and Q2 2020.”

COVID-19 cases have now surpassed 100,000 worldwide since the flu-like coronavirus broke out from Wuhan in China.

The total number of cases now stands at 100,055 as of 8 a.m. ET on Friday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins. The majority of the cases are in mainland China, followed by South Korea, Iran and Italy. In the United States, there are at least 233 cases and 14 deaths, according to John Hopkins.

At least 3,398 people have died due to the virus globally.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization called on all nations to “pull out all the stops” to fight the COVID-19 outbreak as it continues to spread Worldwide.

“This epidemic can be pushed back but only with a coordinated and comprehensive approach that engages the entire machinery of government,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. “We’re calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination.”

Popular Nigerian crossdresser, Bobrisky has reportedly been arrested after a business deal between him and his female partner turned sour.

Bobrisky who was  arrested last night by police officer attached to the Lagos State Police Command, was accused of mismanaging profit from an eyelash deal he got into with one Mrs Rosemary.

It was also gathered that the crossdresser has already been sued by his former business partner for failing to remit revenue from their joint business.

David Beckham has topped a list of footballers 'your wife wants to sleep with', after gaining a  21.25 percent of the vote in a survey of 1,324 people by Ticketgum.com.

The former England captain is the only retired footballer on the list, ahead of Tottenham's goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, and Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who both had 15% and 13.75% votes respectively.

Arch-rivals, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were placed in the 8th and 9th positions on the list after securing 6.25% and 5% votes respectively.

See the full list below.

1. David Beckham 21.25% - Retired English former professional footballer

2. Paulo Gazzaniga 15%  - Tottenham Hotspur

3.Ruben Loftus-Cheek 13.75% - Chelsea

4. Andre Gomes 11.25% - Everton

5. Marco Asensio 8.75% - Real Madrid

6. Olivier Giroud 7.5% - Chelsea

7. Gerard Pique 7.5% - Barcelona

8. Cristiano Ronaldo 6.25% - Juventus

9. Lionel Messi 5% - Barcelona

10. Sergio Ramos 3.75% - Real Madrid

Bill Clinton has opened up about his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky while he was US President.

In a new documentary about the life of Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton claimed he had sex with Ms Lewinsky – who was just 22 at the time – to relieve the pressures of the job.

He said he saw his intern as "something that will take your mind off it for a while". He added that leading the country, makes you feel like "you’ve been in a 15 round prize fight that was extended to 30 rounds".

Having an affair, Mr Clinton said, was among "things I did to manage my anxieties for years".

Former presidential candidate and secretary of state Mrs Clinton told the documentary she was devastated by her husband’s infidelity.

"I could not believe it. I was so personally just hurt and I can’t believe this, I can’t believe you lied," she said.

The documentary is in four parts and will be available to watch on Hulu from Friday. One episode of the documentary focused on the affair. In that episode, Mr Clinton offers an apology to Ms Lewinsky, who in recent years has begun to publicly speak out about their relationship, saying her view of it changed during the #MeToo movement. She struggled for years to fight her life being defined by the affair.

The former president said he felt "terrible" that her life had been "unfairly" tainted by it.

Hilary Clinton and Bill Clinton were interviewed separately for the show and they both reflected on Bill Clinton’s initial lie when he was asked during a deposition about having sex with Monica Lewinsky, before admitting to the nation that they had in fact had a sexual relationship. The relationship, and Mr Clinton lying about it during a deposition, led to his impeachment. He was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.

The couple recounted what it was like when the President informed the First Lady about the affair and how she told him that he needed to inform their daughter himself.

"I said, 'If this is going to be public, you have got to go tell Chelsea,'" Hillary Clinton says, adding that she personally felt "devastated and so personally hurt."

"So, I did that, which was awful," a visibly emotional Bill Clinton says, "What I did was wrong. I just hated to hurt her."

The former President is then asked why he thinks he took that risk at the time.

"Nobody thinks about that, nobody thinks I am taking a risk. That is not why people do stupid things," Bill Clinton says. "Nobody sits down and thinks I will take a really irresponsible risk, it is bad for my family, bad for my country, bad for the people who work with me. That is not what happens."

He adds: "It is you feel like you are staggering around, you have been in a 15-round prize fight that was extended to 30 rounds and here is something that will take your mind off of it for a while. That is what happens."

Bill Clinton also reflects on how he has changed two decades after the incident.

"I am a totally different person than I was," he says. "Maybe it is just getting older, but I hope it was also going through a lot of this."

He adds: "What I did, it was bad, but wasn't like I thought, let's see how can I think about the most stupid thing I could possibly do and do it. It is not a defense, it is an explanation. It was awful. I feel terrible."

Clinton says during the documentary that he feels "terrible about the fact that Monica Lewinsky's life was defined by it, unfairly I think."

"Over the years I have watched her trying to get a normal life back again," he says. "But you got to decide how to define normal," he says.

The portion of the documentary ends with both Bill and Hillary Clinton reflecting on Hillary Clinton's decision to stay with her husband.

"Some people thought I made the right decision and some people thought I made the wrong decision and so I have gotten both affirmation and criticism for the decision I made and that was true from the very beginning of deciding that," Hillary Clinton says.

She adds: "It is a funny time we live in, the kind of public opinion shifts and people say, 'Oh, so noble, she stayed in her marriage' to 'Oh, it is so incomprehensible that she stayed in her marriage'. You know that there are forces of work in a society that people are working through themselves."

The episode ends with an emotional Bill Clinton reflecting on the price that his wife has paid - both personally and professionally - for staying with him.

He says: "I was so grateful that she thought we still had enough to stick it out. God knows the burden she paid for that."

The couple underwent "painful" marriage counselling sessions as a result of the affair, Mrs Clinton said.

Hillary was interviewed for 35 hours for the documentary, alongside many members of her 2016 election campaign staff. She recently told Vanity Fair that she signed up for it "because I’m not running for anything".

"I felt like if I didn’t tell my side of the story, who would? At least there’ll be a baseline: Here’s what actually happened in my life. Here’s what I actually said about it," she said.

The documentary will be available to watch on Hulu from Friday.

Governor Dapo Abiodun has dropped hints of the Italian man who tested positive for coronavirus upon arriving Nigerian, recovering from the deadly disease and being discharged soon.

The Ogun State Governor disclosed this while receiving the management team of Lafarge PLC, led by its Country Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khaleed El Dokani, in his office at Oke-Mosan in  Abeokuta on Friday March 6.

In a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary Kunle Somorin, Governor Dapo Abiodun stated that his government would continue to regard the virus as a serious threat that deserves special attention. He also revealed that they are looking at the possibility of setting up a bio-security centre.

He said;

“For us, the virus is a serious one and an issue that is in the front burner. We will not lower our guard, particularly due to the fact that we have large number of industries and expatriates here. We are enjoying a lot of supports from the World Health Organization and the National Centre for Disease Control. We are going ahead to prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

Governor Abiodun also hailed the company over its swift response in ensuring that the index case and those that came in contact with him were quarantined.

He added;

 ”I hear the index patient is doing very well and will be discharged soon”.

Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria's leading financial institution, has again emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the recently released Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020.

For the third consecutive year, Zenith Bank has been ranked as the number one banking brand in Nigeria with a brand value of $287 million and market capitalisation of $1.62 billion, ranking 392 in the 2020 global ranking of banks.

The ranking was published in the February 2020 edition of The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group in conjunction with London-based Brand Finance.

According to the publication, brand value is the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use the bank's brand. All brand values in the report are for the year ending December 31, 2019.

Zenith Bank has clearly distinguished itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service quality, unique customer experience and sound financial indices. The bank, with a knack for setting the pace and raising benchmarks, is a clear leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed and safety of transactions.

In an apparent show of its resilience and market leadership, Zenith Bank recently announced an impressive result for the year ended December 31, 2019, with profit after tax (PAT) of N208.8 billion, achieving the feat as the first Nigerian Bank to cross the N200 billion mark.

Consistent with this excellent performance and in recognition of its track record of exceptional performance, Zenith Bank was voted as the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto & Co. The bank was also recognised as Bank of the Year and Best Bank in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards. Most recently, the bank emerged as the Bank of the Decade (People's Choice) at the Thisday Awards 2020.

Justice Danlami Senchi of an Abuja High Court sitting in Jabi, has suspended Adams Oshiomhole as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The suspension order, according to the judge, is to subsist till the final determination of the substantive suit seeking the removal of the former Edo State governor as APC national chair. The suit was brought before the court by some APC members from Edo State, predicating it on Oshiomhole’s suspension by the party in his ward in his home state.

In the suit filed by one Mr Oluwale Afolabi, the petitioners maintained that Mr Oshiomhole’s rights as an APC member is currently abated and he cannot continue to act as chairman of the party. They argued that Oshiomhole cannot continue to enjoy benefits from the APC, despite his suspension as a member of the party.

In his ruling, Justice Senchi held that the party wrongfully kept Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the party despite his suspension from his ward.  The judge ordered that Mr Oshiomole should stop parading himself as the chairman of the APC.

He urged the APC to desist from acknowledging him as the chairman of the party and that the party must not to grant Oshiomhole access to the party secretariat.

Recall that Oshiomole and the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, have been at loggerheads over who is to dictate the affairs of the party in the state. The political difference between both men have led to different acts of violence in the state.

Oshiomole emerged chairman of the ruling party in June 2018.