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World Cup 2018 kit power rankings so far… As England reveal their new home strip, how highly does it rate?

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England’s new strips for 2018 World Cup look like winners, don’t they?

Nike unveiled the new white home and red away kits on Wednesday afternoon, with stars such as Raheem Sterling, Joe Gomez and Eric Dier tasked with showing off the numbers that the Three Lions will be wearing in Russia in the summer.

But what about the kits being sported by England’s opposition?

Nineteen of the 32 nations have shown off their new kits so far, so we decided to do what comes naturally to us, and get ranking.

There’s a traditional look for Joe Gomez and Raheem Sterling (Image: NIKE)
And Eric Dier models the red away number (Image: NIKE)

Here’s how we see the home strips that we’ll witness at Russia 2018…

19. Russia

It’s all bit basic for us (Image: Adidas)

The hosts could have gone for something daring, special and memorable for their time in the spotlight in the summer.

Instead they’ve just done what they always do.

18. France

Could be better (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

It’s fine. It’s just… meh.

Maybe it’s the picture, but it looks a bit dark for our liking, and the fact that it’s a Nike kit robs us of the glory of seeing the three Adidas stripes in there a la 1998.

17. Portugal

Anyone getting deja vu? (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

We swear we’ve been here before.

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Isn’t this what they’ve always worn?

16. Switzerland

Meh (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

We swear we’ve been here before, too.

We have, right?

15. Sweden

Nah

Right, you’re having a laugh now.

Sweden have definitely worn this at every major tournament they’ve ever been in for for the last 20 years.

Definitely.

14. Mexico

Very… Mexican (Image: Adidas)

Mexico’s flash of green is always welcome at every World Cup they grace, but they do seem to have taken the Route One approach this time around.

It’ll do though.

13. Uruguay

It’s a little bit simplistic, but it’s fine (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

Another team in a distinctive kit, Uruguay do also seem to have fallen into the “a bit 2012 Olympics” mode with their effort.

12. Argentina

Yep, that’s definitely an Argentina kit (Image: Adidas)

It’s alright. Actually it’s better than alright. It’s an Argentina kit, so it’d be hard for it not to be alright.

All a bit paint by numbers though.

11. Egypt

Mo Salah will be running down the wing in this (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

The kit sported by Mohamed Salah and company this summer deserves to be a hit, and there’s something about the check pattern on the shirt which makes it so.

It’s bit different, and that is to be applauded.

10. Croatia

BOLD (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

You know what a Croatia kit looks like, and we’re not going to insult you with any suggestions that you don’t. This one seems a bit braver than normal though.

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It’s big, it’s bold and it doesn’t care who knows it.

9. Brazil

The Brazil yellow seems familiar (Image: xxxxxxxxxxx)

There’s a slight hint of the kit worn by Brazil’s 1994 World Cup winners here, and we like it.

It might be in the shade of yellow or the pattern on the chest, but whatever it is it gets a thumbs up.

8. England

Good, innit? (Image: NIKE)

Yeah, it’s alright isn’t it? As England kits go, anyway.

The collar looks nice, and the more simplistic design fits in well with the placement of the number.

Should be a winner, even if the team aren’t.

7. Germany

Leroy Sane and Emre Can are here, and they’re looking good (Image: Martin Rose)

As with the rest of this batch of Adidas kits, there is something of a pleasingly retro look to the number Germany will be wearing in Russia. And it suits them, doesn’t it?

6. Peru

Sashes for the win!

It’s Peru. It’s a Peru kit. Of course it was going to be somewhere near the top.

Up the red sashes.

5. Spain

Nice? Si (Image: Adidas)

After the debacle that was the 2014 World Cup, Spain need to go big this time if they are going to regain their reputation.

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This is a good start.

4. Japan

A strong effort from the Japanese (Image: Adidas)

Leicester’s Shinji Okazaki and teammates will arrive in Russia in style in this sleek number that is sure to please fans in the Hipster Group H which also features Poland, Senegal and Colombia.

3. Belgium

Like the best Christmas Jumper ever (Image: Adidas)

Yes, it’s a cross between something your Nan would knit and a football shirt, but by heavens does it work.

England will be fearing these shirts in the summer, and they are right to be both as intimidated and afraid as they’re bound to be.

2. Colombia

Want want want want (Image: Adidas)

The best of the Adidas kits – and almost the best of all the bloomin’ kits – is this effort from Colombia.

Look at it, drink it in, and immediately go out there and buy it the first chance you get.

It’s glorious.

1. Nigeria

Wow (Image: Nike)

And while you’re there, pick up this glorious effort from Nigeria that comes out as a deserving No. 1.

It’s incredible, frankly, and is bound to turn us all into Super Eagles in the summer.

 

 

 

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Crime & Court

Osun police arrest three night guards over alleged murder of 40-year-old man

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A night guard at Ibuowo Estate, Okinni, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, on Saturday, allegedly shot dead a 40-year-old man, Badmus Mohammed.

The guard, Rasaq Moshood, DAILY POST gathered, shot Mohammed, a tenant, who is popularly called Lasgidi dead with his dane gun.

His Landlord, Kazeem Jimoh told DAILY POST that he was at a bar with the deceased till midnight on Friday, before he was called on phone about his death.

According to Kazeem, his tenant was killed at the front of the house, while his door was left open.

“I and Kazeem were at a bar till past 12 when I left him.

“I didn’t sleep at home but I got a call around 1 a.m. that Lasgidi was killed by a guard. When i got home, I saw his door open, while his corpse was outside,” he said.

The Police spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola confirmed the incident.

She noted that three night guards have been arrested with their dane guns.

According to her, “one Babatunde Olumide, the Chairman of Ibuowo Estate Okinni reported at dada Estate Divisional Police Hqts., that their night guard, one Moshood Rasaq used his dane gun to shoot one Mohammed Badmus, aged 40 years and he died instantly.

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“Suspect has been arrested, gun used has been recovered, while the corpse has been taken to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital morgue for autopsy.”

Opalola added that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.

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Chinese astronauts return to earth after six months in space

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Officials stand near the capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft after it returned to earth carrying three Chinese astronauts in China’s Inner Mongolia on April 16, 2022. STR / AFP

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, ending China’s longest crewed mission as it continues its quest to become a major space power.

The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was the latest mission in Beijing’s drive to rival the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.

Live footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with the ground crew who had kept clear of the landing site rushing in helicopters to reach the capsule.

The two men and one woman — Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping — returned to Earth shortly before 10 am Beijing time (0200 GMT), after six months aboard the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.

Ground crew applauded as the astronauts each took turns to report that they were in good physical condition.

Zhai was the first to emerge from the capsule roughly 45 minutes after the landing, waving and grinning at cameras as he was lifted by the ground crew into a specially designed chair before being bundled into a blanket.

“I’m proud of our heroic country,” Zhai said in an interview with CCTV shortly after leaving the capsule. “I feel extremely good.”

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The trio originally launched in the Shenzhou-13 from China’s northwestern Gobi Desert last October, as the second of four crewed missions during 2021-2022 sent to assemble the country’s first permanent space station — Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace.”

Wang became the first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.

Mission commander Zhai, 55, is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.

The trio have completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit.

The astronauts spent the past few weeks tidying up and preparing the cabin facilities and equipment for the crew of the incoming Shenzhou-14, expected to be launched in the coming months.

China’s previous record spaceflight mission length was set by last year’s Shenzhou-12 deployment, which lasted 92 days.

Six months will become the normal astronaut residence period aboard the Chinese space station, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Space race

The world’s second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.

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The country has come a long way in catching up with the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.

But under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the country’s plans for its heavily-promoted “space dream” have been put into overdrive.

Besides a space station, Beijing is also planning to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.

China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011 when the US banned NASA from engaging with the country.

While China does not plan to use its space station for global cooperation on the scale of the ISS, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration although the scope of that cooperation is not yet clear.

The ISS is due for retirement after 2024, although NASA has said it could remain functional until 2030.

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Putin’s Russia finally invades Ukraine

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Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022.(Photo by Aris Messinis / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a “full-scale invasion” was underway.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.

“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and sent global financial markets into turmoil.

Shortly after the announcement, explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his address to the nation at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 21, 2022. Alexey NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP

 

Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and justified the operation by claiming the government was overseeing a “genocide” in the east of the country.

The Kremlin had earlier said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.

The extent of Thursday’s attacks was not immediately clear, but Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the worst-case scenario was playing out.

“Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Kuleba tweeted.

“This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”

Biden immediately warned of “consequences” for Russia and that there would be a “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.

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NATO’s chief condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine.

Putin’s move came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional appeal late on Wednesday night to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.

Speaking Russian, Zelensky said that the people of Russia were being lied to about Ukraine.

Zelensky said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence”, adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders.

Earlier on Wednesday the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine’s aggression”, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated February 22.

Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.

– ‘Moment of peril’ –

Putin had for weeks defied a barrage of international criticism over the crisis, with some Western leaders saying he was no longer rational.

His announcement of the military operation came ahead of a last-ditch summit involving European Union leaders in Brussels planned for Thursday.

The 27-nation bloc had also imposed sanctions on Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and high-ranking figures including the commanders of Russia’s army, navy and air force, another part of the wave of Western punishment after Putin sought to rewrite Ukraine’s borders.

The United Nations Security Council met late Wednesday for its second emergency session in three days over the crisis, with a personal plea there by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Putin going unheeded.

“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” Guterres said.

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The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, warned that an all-out Russian invasion could displace five million people, triggering a new European refugee crisis.

Before Putin’s announcement, Ukraine had urged its approximately three million citizens living in Russia to leave.

“We are united in believing that the future of European security is being decided right now, here in our home, in Ukraine,” President Zelensky said during a joint media appearance with the visiting leaders of Poland and Lithuania.

Western capitals said Russia had amassed 150,000 troops in combat formations on Ukraine’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea and on warships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has around 200,000 military personnel, and could call up to 250,000 reservists.

Moscow’s total forces are much larger — around a million active-duty personnel — and have been modernised and re-armed in recent years.

 

– High cost of war –

But Ukraine has received advanced anti-tank weapons and some drones from NATO members. More have been promised as the allies try to deter a Russian attack or at least make it costly.

Shelling had intensified in recent days between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists — a Ukrainian soldier was killed on Wednesday, the sixth in four days — and civilians living near the front were fearful.

Dmitry Maksimenko, a 27-year-old coal miner from government-held Krasnogorivka, told AFP that he was shocked when his wife came to tell him that Putin had recognised the two Russian-backed separatist enclaves.

“She said: ‘Have you heard the news?’. How could I have known? There’s no electricity, never mind internet. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but to be honest, I’m afraid,” he said.

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In a Russian village around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, AFP reporters saw military equipment including rocket launchers, howitzers and fuel tanks mounted on trains stretching for hundreds of metres.

Russia has long demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining the NATO alliance and that US troops pull out from Eastern Europe.

Speaking to journalists, Putin on Tuesday set out a number of stringent conditions if the West wanted to de-escalate the crisis, saying Ukraine should drop its NATO ambition and become neutral.

Washington Wednesday announced sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany had earlier effectively suspended by halting certification.

Australia, Britain, Japan and the European Union have all also announced sanctions.

 

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