Arsenal looks to boost title hopes with win over Chelsea

Chelsea will make the short journey across London to the Emirates Stadium to face an Arsenal side looking to end its 12-year wait for the league title.

While the defending champion has endured a disastrous season culminating in Jose Mourinho's dismissal, the Gunners are level at the top of the standings.

In the most unpredictable of seasons, Leicester, a side that was bottom of the table in April, shares the lead with the Gunners, while Manchester City is a point adrift in third.

The onus is on Arsenal to win the title, with several rivals struggling for form. And with Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola available at the end of the season, manager Arsene Wenger will be hoping his side capitalizes on its chance or face the insurmountable criticism and calls for his departure that will likely ensue.

Fixtures between Arsenal and Chelsea have been notorious for the regularity with which Mourinho would taunt Wenger.

The Portuguese coach would often remind his counterpart of his trophy drought and branded Wenger a "specialist in failure" back in February 2014.

It will undoubtedly come as a relief to the Frenchman to see a different man standing alongside him on the touchline on Sunday, given his atrocious record against Mourinho.

Just one win in 15 attempts against the former Blues boss, a narrow 1-0 win in the Community Shield, highlighted the superiority Mourinho had in matches that ultimately mattered.

Indeed, a 2-0 home win at Stamford Bridge, while Mourinho was still in charge, saw the visitors finish the game with nine men after Gabriel and Santi Cazorla were dismissed.

Guus Hiddink, who is back at Chelsea for the second time in his managerial career, has been tasked with salvaging its miserable campaign.

However, so far he has guided the Blues to four draws and one win in his first five league games. The squad is largely void of the confidence that it exuded last season as it won the title at a canter.

Last season's player of the year Eden Hazard has yet to score and misses out through injury, and while striker Diego Costa has struggled for consistency this season, three goals in his last four appearances will be of some concern to the Gunners defense.

A win for Tottenham away to Crystal Palace on Saturday could provisionally lift Mauricio Pochettino's side to within two points of the summit.

Spurs responded to losing at home to Leicester with a 4-1 thrashing of relegation-threatened Sunderland before exacting some revenge over the Foxes by beating Claudio Ranieri's side 2-0 in an FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday.

Another London derby pits the North Londoners against Alan Pardew's side, without a win in five league matches.

Three consecutive defeats has seen Palace slip to eighth in the table, and barring favorable results the Eagles could find itself in the bottom half at the end of play on Sunday.

Sergio Aguero scored twice for Manchester City at home to Crystal Palace last Saturday as they closed the gap at the top of the table.

Despite the striker having suffered with injuries this term, his double against Palace took him onto 10 goals in just 15 appearances this term.

If City is to claim the title for the third time in five seasons, they will need to ensure a clean bill of health for its first-choice striker, who finished top scorer last year with 26 goals.

West Ham caused an upset in the reverse fixture, winning 2-1 at the Etihad in September. That result saw City miss the chance to move six points clear at the top of the table and another defeat would hand Slaven Bilic's side a memorable double and boost its own chances of a top-six finish and European football next season.

Also Saturday, it's: Norwich vs. Liverpool; Leicester vs. Stoke, Manchester United vs. Southampton, Sunderland vs. Bournemouth, Watford vs. Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion vs. Aston Villa. On Sunday, it's: Everton vs. Swansea.

Lassa fever claims five life in Plateau

The Plateau State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kuden Kamshak, has said that five cases of Lassa fever have been detected in Jos, the state capital, according to Punch newspaper.

He said that the patients were responding to treatment.

Kamshak said, “So far, we have only five cases and they are responding to treatment. We have advised doctors not to keep patients for so long in the hospital to avoid contact and spread.”

The commissioner, who spoke in Jos on Thursday, said that Plateau State had been identified as one of the hotbed of the ailment due to its proximity to most of the Lassa fever endemic states, hence, the need for citizens to maintain a clean and healthy environment, reported by Punch.

He added that health officers had been sent to rural communities to sensitise them on the dangers of the disease and the symptoms to look out for

Following the death of a resident doctor at the Maxilofacial Surgery Department at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile Ife, the Osun State government has also placed 55 persons under surveillance.

The Permanent Secretary, Osun State Ministry of Health, Dr. Temitope Oladele, while briefing journalists in his office on Thursday said that the state had created emergency centres to ensure that the disease was contained.

Oladele said the preliminary report of the test carried out on the blood sample of the doctor “came back as compatible with Lassa virus.”

He, however, said the confirmatory test could not be done following his death but he added that the state had gone ahead to prepare to contain the virus.

Oladele said no other case had been found anywhere in the state apart from this index case which according to him was imported from a neighbouring state he declined to mention.

He said, “We have traced 55 persons who he had contact with before his death and we have placed them under surveillance.

“As of today, none of them has shown any symptoms of Lassa fever but we are watching over them to ensure that the disease does not spread.

“We have dedicated lines of those in the emergency centres, the numbers are

08032394921; 08062473160: 08035620234 and 08034175852.”

However, the Ebonyi State government on Thursday denied reports of any outbreak of Lassa fever outbreak, insisting that no case had been recorded.

According to the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike, Lassa fever cases can only be ascertained after a laboratory test must have been carried out.

Gareth Bale contract leak sparks panic at Real Madrid

The leaking of documents revealing the financial details of Gareth Bale's world record transfer to Real Madrid has sparked fury with the player's representatives - and panic at the club.

The details of Bale’s move from Spurs to Madrid in 2013 were released by website Football Leaks and confirmed that the deal was a world record, also eclipsing the fee paid to Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo four years earlier.

Real have always claimed the Bale deal was worth €91.59 million, with Ronaldo's fee eclipsing that at €96 million, but the leaked documents have reported that Bale’s fee amounted to €100,759,418 after they opted to pay Spurs in instalments rather than up front.

AS also claim that the document detailing the deal, which runs to six pages, specified that Real would issue a press release stating that the price of the deal was €91.59million. It also stipulates that Spurs could not reveal any financial details surrounding the transfer to the media.

Jonathan Barnett, the co-owner of football agency Stellar Group who brokered Bale’s move, is furious at how the finer details of the transfer have been made public.

He told Telegraph Sport: “There should be an inquiry and an independent investigation because it’s outrageous. There also needs to be an apology from the Football Association to the clubs and the player.

“I think it’s disgraceful that people can get hold of this sort of stuff. It shows complete disregard for both clubs and the player.”

And the report will also have political repercussions at the Spanish giants, as it has long been thought that Real's insistence that Bale's fee was not as large as Ronaldo's was part of a concerted effort to appease their talismanic forward.

The Sunday Times journalist Jonathan Northcroft claimed earlier this month that he had been asked not to refer to Bale's transfer fee as a world record in an interview he had conducted with the Wales international.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "Real Madrid are a club so worried about image that when I interviewed Bale it was requested to me, 'don't put in the article how much Gareth Bale cost'.

"The reason for that is because it was a world record transfer fee but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't like to see that someone else cost more than him."

Ronaldo's future at Real remains a matter of intense speculation, with Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United both keen to sign him at the end of the season.

Spanish newspaper Marca, meanwhile, say that Bale's fine form this season will be rewarded with a new contract that could keep him at the club until 2021.

Mariah Carey and James Packer are engaged

                                          Getty Image

Ms Carey performed at the opening of Mr Packer's casino in Macau last year

US pop star Mariah Carey and Australian billionaire James Packer are engaged to be married, the BBC has learned.

The couple went public with their relationship last June after they were seen on holiday together in Italy.

Mr Packer, 47, is Australia's fourth-richest person, according to Forbes, with a fortune estimated to exceed A$4.7bn ($3.1bn £2.3bn).

Mariah Carey, 45, released her first album in 1990 and is one of the biggest selling artists of all time.

Mr Packer, who inherited an Australian media empire from his father Kerry Packer, and now operates casinos, split from his second wife model and singer Erica Baxter in 2013.

Ms Carey announced her break-up from "America's Got Talent" host Nick Cannon in 2014.

Gates, Dangote Foundation seal N19.7bn deal to reduce malnutrition

The Dangote Foundation on Thursday sealed a partnership worth $100m (N19.7bn) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation towards ending malnutrition in Nigeria within the next five years according to Punch.

The agreement was sealed in Abuja by the President Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote who signed on behalf of the Dangote Foundation while Mr. Bill Gates signed on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The agreement was witnessed by members of the international community  as well as top officials of government such as the Ministers of Health, Education, Agriculture, Planning and Budgeting.

Speaking on the motivation behind the agreement, Dangote said "despite its rapid economic growth, Nigeria was still ranked as the second country in the world with high rate of under nutrition".

He said more worrisome was the fact that the country was also rated as the second highest in terms of stunted growth owing to malnutrition.

"Currently, there were about 11 million children in Nigeria experiencing under nutrition with the North East and North West region accounting for the highest percentage of under nourished children."

"Owing to its vital role in child health, growth and cognitive development, better nutrition would be essential towards unlocking the potentials of the next generation of Nigeria."

“Over the past few months, Dangote Foundation has gone through a strategy revision exercise and we arrived at a conclusion that the biggest challenge confronting us as we work at reducing childhood death is reducing the level of malnutrition in Nigeria."

“Globally, Nigeria has the second highest level of acute malnutrition rate at 13 per cent and at least five of all the children under the age trove years that died in Nigeria do so as a result of malnutrition."

“Stunting which is chronic malnutrition is the second highest in the world which is about 37 per cent."

“We have to ensure that children who are already malnourished receive help and are prevented from dying while we improve the conditions that led to them being malnourished in the first place.”

In his address, Gates said the agreement would enable the two foundations to begin a joint process that would strengthen the collaboration within the next five years.

He said programs that would be implemented under the pact would include community based approaches and proven interventions linked to behavioral change, fortification of staple foods with essential micronutrients and community management of a cure malnutrition investment in the local production of nutritious foods.

"One of the key objective would be to improve the livelihoods o households by supporting nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs that can increase family income, improve diets and empower women and youth."

Gates said, “Nutrition is one of the highest impact investments we can make in Nigeria’s future growth and prosperity".

With Punch