ArchMedia Inc

Lionel Messi Barcelona star player Lionel Messi has said he will appeal the court ruling, declaring him guilty of tax fraud. A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced  Messi  and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud and slapped them with a fine of 3.7 million euros ($4.1m).

A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona striker Lionel  Messi  and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud and slapped them with a fine of 3.7 million euros ($4.1 million). But these prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years. The Argentina and Barcelona star and his father Jorge Horacio Messi  were found guilty of using companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of  Messi ‘s income earned from his image rights from 2007-09. The income related to  Messi ‘s image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company.

The High Court of Bayelsa State, sitting in Sagbama, has granted the prayers of the Agbereowei family of Bolou-Orua community in Sagbama to possess their land and remove Globacom mast, accessories and fence on their property. The Agbereowei family, in a suit, SHC/02/2015, filed by Miss Justina Agbereowei and Mr. Wednesday Agbereowei (claimants), had sued Globacom (defendant) for alleged failure to pay rents on the land housing its base station running into 10 years. The claimants had prayed the court, presided over by Justice E.G. Omukoro, to declare that they the persons rightfully entitled to the right of occupancy in and over all that parcel of land measuring approximately 40 feet by 40.5 feet where the defendant base station was located is their property. They also prayed the court to declare that the possession of all that piece of land where the Glo base station with code number BLO 001, is built, is their property. They also urged the court to compel the defendant to remo...

The Federal Government has released about N13bn to the National Youth Service Corps to assist the agency to pay the outstanding allowances of corps members. With this development, the NYSC can now proceed with the mobilisation of prospective corps members in the country. Our correspondent learnt that corps members and the NYSC workers  had been jubilating since the news got to them. The spokesperson for the NYSC, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, confirmed the release of the N13bn in an interview with  The PUNCH  on Tuesday in Abuja. She was reacting to enquiries about the amount following an earlier statement in which the NYSC was commending the Federal Government for “its prompt intervention, approval and release of funds to accommodate the 2016 Batch ‘A’(Stream II) Orientation course.” She said, “The management of the NYSC also wishes to use this medium to inform and assure prospective corps members, parents, guardians and the general public that the 2016 Batch ‘A’ stre...

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday walked out of the meeting held with the representatives of the Federal Government, vowing to go ahead with its scheduled nationwide strike on Wednesday (today). Representatives of the Trade Union Congress, who also attended the meeting, however, said the TUC would not join the strike. NLC President, Aliyu Wabba, led the labour delegation while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, led the Federal Government delegation at the talks held in the SGF’s office in Abuja on Tuesday night. After the meeting, Lawal said, “The National Industrial Court has given an injunction that no strike by NLC and TUC should hold tomorrow (Wednesday). It is therefore clear that anyone embarking on strike tomorrow (Wednesday) is doing so illegally and government is assuring all Nigerians to come out and do their jobs tomorrow (Wednesday). “It the duty of government to provide security for her citizens and anyon...

Iceland’s PM resigns “The prime minister told (his party’s) parliamentary group's meeting that he would step down as prime minister and I will take over,” the Progressive party’s deputy leader and agriculture minister, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, said in a live broadcast. The junior member of the centre-right government coalition, the Independence Party, still has to approve the switch. Gunnlaugsson, 41, had been under pressure to resign after the leaked documents revealed that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and had placed millions of dollars there. Thousands of demonstrators had protested outside parliament in Reykjavik on Monday, throwing eggs and yoghurt at the building and calling on the centre-right leader to step down. The left-wing opposition had also presented a motion of no-confidence against Gunnlaugsson. Earlier Tuesday, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short a US visit to...