PSG issue Lionel Messi injury update for Champions League clash with Man City

Paris Saint-Germain are sweating on the fitness of Lionel Messi ahead of the crunch Champions League showdown with Manchester City.

Lionel Messi is being treated for a knock to his knee that he sustained in the club's 2-1 win over Lyon on Sunday, according to L’Équipe, something that PSG confirmed on Tuesday. Lionel Messi will miss PSG’s trip to Metz on Wednesday night due to injury - just days after boss Mauricio Pochettino was forced to defend his use of the star.

A club statement on Tuesday read: "Lionel Messi, following the knock received on his left knee, has undergone an MRI this morning which confirms the signs of bone contusion, a new assessment will be made in 48 hours."

Recall that, The Barcelona superstar duly made his displeasure clear, snubbing the ex-Spurs boss’ offer of a hand shake as he trudged to the bench where he cut a frustrated figure. Post-game, Pochettino insisted there were no problems with Messi, declaring his compatriot understood his decision.

Stores have been doing less business as U.S. consumers’ budgets strain to keep up with inflation and high interest rates.Retail sales rose 0.1% in May from April, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That was less than the 0.2% increase that forecasters had expected according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. On top of that, April’s sales figures were downwardly revised to a 0.2% decline rather than staying flat as the bureau initially reported in May.

It could be the beginning of a reversal in the strong consumer spending that has buoyed the economy during the pandemic recovery.

"Overall, the May retail sales data are consistent with a consumer that is only gradually losing its swagger," wrote Wells Fargo economists Tim Quinlan and Shannon Seery Grein.

The data suggests retail spending is settling into a slower pace of growth, though not collapsing. The high inflation of the past few years—not to mention high interest rates on credit cards and other consumer loans—has dragged down people’s ability to spend. And, a recent uptick in the unemployment rate may also be pushing people to tighten their belts. 

"Given slowing job growth and lower savings, and the constant pressure from inflation to spend more judiciously, it’s no surprise that retail spending is downshifting,” Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote in a commentary. “We can expect retail spending to be fairly flat for the foreseeable future.”

There were a few bright spots in the report from the perspective of household budgets. One reason for relatively sluggish sales growth was that gas prices fell in May—and that pushed down the total amount of dollars that people spent. Spending at online stores jumped 0.8% over the month and is up 6.8% since last year. 

The sluggish housing market, which is virtually gridlocked because of high mortgage rates, may be contributing to the retail sales slowdown. Slow home sales mean fewer people are buying furniture for their new digs—spending at household furnishing stores fell to its lowest since December 2020.

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The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Ali Pantami, has said that Nigeria would before long be one of the main computerized economies on the planet. 

Pantami expressed this at the second School of Science and Technology (SOST) National Conference of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, on Tuesday, November 16, in Bauchi. 

He said the topic of the gathering "The Role of Science, Technology and Innovations in a Digital Economy: Towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" was convenient and related with the target of computerized economy. 

As indicated by Vanguard, he said, "It is very significant in light of the fact that our country Nigeria is at a point where advancing into one of the countries will in the following a few years be viewed as one of the main computerized economies on the planet. 

This is the craving of the Ministry and President Muhammadu Buhari that all organizations under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, private area and partner organizations are pursuing Nigeria's computerized Economy. 

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are viewed as the principle empowering influences of understanding a few, if not all, of SDGs like consummation hunger through Agrictech, no neediness through ICT, great wellbeing among others." 

President Bola Tinubu will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation Summit between September 4 and 6, 2024.

Tinubu will visit China to represent the West African bloc ECOWAS at the Summit. The Nigerian president is the chairman of the Authority of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government.

At the summit, Tinubu will discuss regional peace and security, presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale told State House correspondents on Tuesday. Ngelale added that the trip aims to yield significant economic benefits for Nigeria.

The planned meeting between Tinubu and one of the world’s most powerful presidents will take place amid a flurry of seizures of Nigerian assets by a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited.

A former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Usman Sarki, had said diplomatic steps are a surefire way to end the firm’s seizure of Nigerian assets abroad. Sarki urged Tinubu to meet with his Chinese counterpart as soon as possible to resolve the conflict between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Chinese company.

A French court recently ruled in favour of the firm and granted the seizure of presidential jets belonging to the Nigerian government. In the dispute involving an arbitration award, the court in Paris ruled in favour of the Chinese firm, allowing it to seize three presidential jets on routine maintenance in France as “security” for claims in a decades-long judicial matter between the foreign company and the Ogun State government.