MESSI RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL WITH TEARS

Lionel Messi sensationally announced his retirement from international football on Sunday after Argentina crashed to an upset defeat against Chile in the final of the Copa America.
The heartbroken Barcelona superstar was distraught after missing a spot-kick as Chile snatched victory in a penalty shoot-out - Messi's fourth straight defeat in a major final while representing Argentina.
"For me the national team is over," the crestfallen 29-year-old told reporters.
"I've done all I can, I've been in four finals and it hurts not to be a champion.
"It's a hard moment for me and the team, and it's difficult to say, but it's over with the Argentina team."

Messi's dramatic announcement followed Argentina's third loss in a major final since 2014.
They were beaten 1-0 by Germany in the final of the World Cup in 2014 and lost on penalties, also to Chile, in the final of the 2015 Copa America.
Messi also tasted defeat with Argentina in the final of the 2007 Copa America.
Despite a glittering career that has seen him named Fifa World Player of the Year on no fewer than five occasions, Messi has often faced baffling criticism from Argentina fans.
Although universally regarded as one of the greatest footballers ever, he has regularly been criticised for his failure to land a major title in the colours of Argentina.
Messi's failure to match the achievements in the Argentina jersey of Diego Maradona, who single-handedly carried the team to victory in the 1986 World Cup, has often been held against him.
Maradona himself has often taken potshots at Messi, criticising him on the eve of the tournament for a perceived "lack of personality".
"He's a really good person, but he has no personality," Maradona said in Paris shortly before the start of Euro 2016.
"He lacks the character to be a leader."
Messi's bombshell decision comes after a gruelling season which was disrupted by injury last year.
He recovered to help Barcelona win the Spanish title once more and was relishing the prospect of leading Argentina to glory in the Copa America Centenario.
His commitment to playing for Argentina was reflected in his decision to fly from Spain to Argentina for a low-key friendly against Honduras shortly before the tournament, where he suffered a back injury.
He then returned to Spain to give evidence at his trial for tax fraud before jetting off to the United States to join up with his Argentina team-mates.
Although he was injured for his team's opening group game against Chile, he came on as a substitute in a 5-0 hammering of Panama to score a hat-trick in 19 minutes.
He then equalled Argentina's international goalscoring record of 54, held by Gabriel Batistuta, in the quarter-finals before setting a new mark with his 55th international goal in the semi-final win over the United States.

Lionel Messi Factfile

• Name: Lionel Andres Messi
• Nationality: Argentinian
• Date of birth: June 24, 1987 - age 29
• Place of birth: Rosario, Argentina
• Club: Barcelona (ESP/since 2000)
• International appearances: 112
• International goals: 55
• International debut: August 17, 2005, Hungary 1 Argentina 2

Honours

Club

• Champions League (4): 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15
• Club World Cup (3): 2009, 2011, 2015
• Spanish Championships (8): 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16
• Spanish Cup (3): 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16
• Spanish Super Cups (6) 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013

International

• World Cup: Finalist (2010), Quarter-finalist (2006, 2010), 15 matches, 5 goals
• Copa America: Finalist (2015, 2007, 2016), Quarter-finalist (2011), 16 matches, 3 goals
• Olympic gold medal (1): 2008
• Under-20 World Cup (1): 2005

Individual Honours:

• Ballon D'Or (5): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
• Top scorer in the Spanish league (3): 2009-2010 (34 goals), 2011-2012 (50 goals), 2012-13 (46 goals)
• Top scorer in the Champions League (5): 2008-2009 (9 goals), 2009-2010 (8 goals), 2010-2011 (12 goals), 2011-2012 (14 goals), 2014-15 (10 goals)
• World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2014
• Olympic player of the tournament (1): 2008
• Under-20 World Cup player of the tournament (1): 2005
• Top scorer at Under-20 World Cup (1): 2005 (6 goals)

Share: Continue Reading

U.S AIR FORCE MASTER VISITS BRITAIN AND DIES AFTER 70 YRS OF WWII

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector (Screengrab from ITV video)

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector long carried Britain in his heart after he helped defend it during World War II, but 70 years passed without him stepping foot in the country.

The 94-year-old finally decided to leave his home in Barefoot Bay, Fla., to visit Britain earlier this month. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans conducts a travel program through which interested parties can visit certain sites of the war. He signed up for one, in hopes of visiting the Royal Air Force station Snetterton Heath, in Norfolk.

He served there with the 96th Bomb Group in 1945 as a radio operator and gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, flying eight combat missions over Germany during the spring of the war’s final year. On four of these missions, his plane came under heavy fire. One almost proved catastrophic, and the plane returned to base with holes dotting its wings.

At one point during his military career, he served as a gunner for the Memphis Belle, the first heavy bomber to complete its tour by flying 25 missions with its crew intact. It went on to have a post-war career in raising morale and money for the U.S. Army. Writes historian John Buescher of the warplane:

After both crew and plane completed their respective 25th mission, the crew received the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. They were then ordered in June to fly the Memphis Belle back to the United States for a cross-country tour, the aim of which was to increase morale back home and to sell War Bonds. … When the Memphis Belle completed its tour (the first heavy bomber to do so), it was a joyful event, not only for the crew, but also for the entire air command and the American public.

The B-17 Flying Fortress garnered such attention that not one but two films were made about it: a documentary in 1944 and an eponymously titled drama in 1990, starring John Lithgow, Matthew Modine and Harry Connick Jr.

Rector was excited for his return to the place that made this great plane famous.

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector (Screengrab from ITV video)

“He planned it for like the last six months,” Darlene O’Donnell, Rector’s stepdaughter, said of the trip, according to the Florida Today newspaper. “He couldn’t wait to go.”

On Rector’s long flight over the Atlantic, the pilot of his American Airlines flight summoned him to the cockpit so that the two could take a photograph together. “The flight attendant stopped us and said, ‘Mr. Rector, the captain would like to meet you,'” Susan Jowers told Florida Today.

She had become almost a daughter to Rector after serving as his guardian during a 2011 Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., and she accompanied him on this tour.

On May 6, Rector stepped foot on British soil for the first time in 71 years. The group first visited RAF Uxbridge in the London borough of Hillingdon.

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Melvin Rector on left (Screengrab from ITV video)

Rector toured Battle of Britain Bunker, an underground command center where fighter airplane operations were directed during D-Day. After climbing back into the sunlight, he told Jowers he felt dizzy. She grabbed one of his arms, and a stranger grabbed the other.

There, just outside the bunker where Winston Churchill famously said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” Rector died quietly.

“He walked out of that bunker like his tour was done,” Jowers said.

Sandy Vavruich, Rector’s daughter, said it’s how he would have liked to die, even though he sadly never did make it to RAF Snetterton Heath.

“He couldn’t have asked for a better way to go,” she told Florida Today. “It was quick and painless. He had just gotten to see two planes, and he passed away between them.”

Before repatriating his remains to the United States, a small service for the fallen hero was planned in Britain. It did not remain a small service.

“They just wanted something very simple. And when I found a little bit of background out about Melvin, there was no way we were going to just give him a very simple service,” Neil Sherry, the British funeral director in charge of Rector’s service, told ITV London News. “I wanted it to be as special as possible.”

Though Jowers expected no more than four people, word of Rector’s war record reached the American and British armed forces. The U.S. Embassy donated a flag to drape over his coffin, and the room filled with servicemen and women and London historians who had never met Rector but wanted to pay their respects to their spiritual brother in arms.

 Follow

Luke Hanrahan 

✔‎@luketomhanrahan

At the funeral of Melvin Rector, an American Airmen who flew the famous Melvin Belle B-17 during WW2. 25 missions.

3:01 PM - 18 May 2016

 
•  77 Retweets
 
•  55 likes

One of them was U.S. Army Maj. Leif Purcell. He may not have known Rector, but he attended the funeral May 18.

“Representation from the Royal Air Force and the British Army I saw here was phenomenal,” Purcell told ITV London News. “I was expecting just to see myself and maybe two or three other U.S. service members and a priest, and that was it. So it was very delightful to see.”

Speaking to the congregation, one U.S. serviceman said, “I do know of his sacrifice and his family’s sacrifice, so you do him and his family a great honor by being here today.”

Jowers was pleased.

“He certainly got a beautiful send-off,” Jowers told Florida Today. “People everywhere, from Cambridge to London, heard his story.”

Vavruich, who lives in Gloversville, N.Y., was also touched by the outpouring of respect. She, along with Rector’s five other children, will have the opportunity to pay their respects June 9 at First Baptist Church in Barefoot Bay. Rector’s remains were repatriated to the United States on Tuesday.

Share: Continue Reading

JPM'S IMPROMPTU VISIT AT AIRPORT, ORDERS SECURITY MACHINES REPAIRED QUICKLY

President John Magufuli yesterday ordered Ministry for Works, Transport and Communication in collaboration with security organs to immediately fix security scanning machines at Julius Nyerere International Airport, Terminal One. According to a statement released by acting head of the State House Directorate of Communication Gerson Msigwa, the Head of State gave the order after conducting an impromptu visit at the terminal upon his arrival from Uganda. At least two machines for scanning passengers and cargo were defective. The officials at the terminal failed to give clear clarifications on the situation until the President ordered them to reveal the truth. “I don’t like people who tell lies, I have decided to come here because I know something is wrong; can’t you ask yourself that question ?” said President Magufuli. Earlier, one of the officials had maintained that only one machine was out of use, but a colleague subsequently revealed that both machines were not working. President Magufuli said the the sector ministry must collaborate with security organs to fix the situation as soon as possible. “Given this situation, it means if I arrive with a private jet, I could pass through here with minerals, illicit drugs or elephant tusks without any problem,” he said. While in Kampala, President Magufuli congratulated President Yoweri Museveni for being sworn-in for the fifth term. He advised his host to apply ‘design and construct method’ in the construction of oil pipeline from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga. The construction is set to cover a total of 1410 kilometres. He said the project should involve between five and six contractors so as to be completed on time.

Share: Continue Reading

BESIGYE'S SWORN IN FOR PRESIDENCY A DAY BEFORE MUSEVENI, WATCH VIDEO

Ugandan Opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been 'sworn in' as president, a day before incumbent Yoweri Museveni's inauguration.

Besigye, who belongs to the Forum for Democratic Change, was arrested several times after the country's disputed February 18 general election.

"Winner of the 2016 election, after swearing in as the new President of Uganda," the party wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

But police arrested the Opposition leader as he addressed a crowd in Kampala after the ceremony. He has been on a campaign of defiance aimed at invalidating what he calls Museveni's "illegal presidency."

Details of the ceremony are yet to emerge but it is said that Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago was to preside over it.

Besigye has insisted he won the election with 52 per cent votes, despite the official announcement that declared Museveni winner with 61 per cent votes. Besigye, who got 35 per cent, called the vote rigged.  

EU monitors said the election was held in an intimidating atmosphere and that the electoral body lacked independence and transparency. But Ugandan officials said it was free and fair.

Heavy security, Opposition protesters arrested

IG Kale Kayihura said heavy security was necessary in Uganda ahead of Museveni's swearing in. He said the country is expecting "quite a number of heads of state and other dignitaries".

"On such an event, all the national security agencies come together as a joint team to ensure the event is secured against all threats," he said.

Police arrested at least 18 protesters on Thursday, with the Opposition accusing them of using live rounds and detaining close to 100 people demonstrating against Museveni.

Witnesses said teargas was used to disperse protesters in Kampala, where the police said they detained 18 for "disobeying lawful orders" by holding unauthorised demonstrations.

Tensions have festered since Museveni won the election, extending his 30-year rule by another five-year term.

Ingrid Turinawe, of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) which called the protests, said the number detained was much higher than the police said.

"We're still compiling data but it's in dozens, close to a hundred people," she said.

"The response from the state was very brutal, all the people who tried to match across the country were arrested," she said, adding police fired live ammunition in some areas.

Police spokesman Patrick Onyango denied that, saying officers had used "minimum force".

The Ugandan government has banned local media from covering "live activities" of the FDC party.

Human Rights Watch said the Ugandan government was showing "contempt for free expression rights".

"Media should report fairly and accurately but it cannot be required to agree with the government at all times," said Maria Burnet, a researcher for the New York-based rights group.

Share: Continue Reading