Louis van Gaal tells press to mind their business

A report in Friday's Daily Mirror claimed all immediate transfer plans have been put on hold at Old Trafford amid uncertainty over the Manchester United manager's future.

Van Gaal has 18 months to run on his contract and United have flatly denied meeting Pep Guardiola to discuss the position.

And the Dutchman, whose relationship with the media became increasingly strained during an eight-match winless run late last year, was in no mood to discuss his plans as he attended his weekly press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at home to Southampton.

"I don't think that the press have to help me with my decisions," he said.

"First they have sacked me and now they are interfering with my future. I don't think I have to answer this question."

Asked whether speculation over his future might affect United's squad, he said: "Until now, I haven't seen that.

"I have a relationship with the players and that's the most important thing. What is happening in the media is a different world. Not everything that the media is writing, I'm sorry to say, is true."

Uefa will not hold a presidential election until Michel Platini's appeal against his eight-year ban

The Uefa president, 60, was suspended by Fifa's ethics committee in December along with its president Sepp Blatter.

They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a "disloyal payment" made to Platini, but the Frenchman has appealed to Fifa's appeals committee.

Platini has withdrawn from February's Fifa presidential election.

A statement from European governing body Uefa said: "The Uefa executive committee decided there will be no Uefa presidential election scheduled until the sports justice appeal bodies, including potentially the Court of Arbitration for Sport, have taken a decision regarding Michel Platini's suspension.

"We hope his name is cleared and that he can return to the European football family as quickly as possible."

With BBC

Tyga spotted with a pretty young woman but wasn't Kylie Jenner

PREMIERE/JAVILES/FAMEFLYNET

SPW / BRIAN PRAHL / SPLASH NEWS/SPW / BRIAN PRAHL / SPLASH NEWS

While Tyga was out with a new girl, Kylie Jenner hit a West Hollywood hot spot with friends.

Tyga, the rapper and sometimes boyfriend of Kylie Jenner, has been seen around L.A. with an unknown lady.

The pretty girl with gray-dyed hair, whom some reports named as Val Mercado, bears a resemblance to Jenner.

Rumors continue to swirl as to whether the rapper and reality star are together. He was spotted with the young woman shopping in Beverly Hills on Thursday.

Jenner was close by and the same night  and hit The Nice Guy in West Hollywood with some pals.

Jenner, 18, and Tyga, 26, were last seen together holding hands during a date to the movies last week.

That was on the heels of a 14-year-old aspiring singer who accused Tyga of sending her inappropriate messages.

And there was the Brazilian model Annalu Cardoso who alleged that she had slept with Tyga when Jenner was out of town.     



With daily news

Coca Cola secret reveals

Those are two of over 100 drinks that Coca-Cola produces in Africa, many tailored to local taste according to CNN.

The approach in each city may differ, but the company's strategy is the same everywhere: a Coke product should always be within reach.

"It is very important that as a business we really ensure that we continue to be relevant to consumers and customers," Nathan Kalumbu, President Coca-Cola Eurasia & Africa Group, told CNN.

Across the continent, Coke has about 3,000 small distribution centers.

"These micro distribution centers are normally run by individuals who live in the community, they employ local people and they distribute to local retailers. It is a very good system that allows us to be able to reach consumers that would otherwise be difficult in reaching because of infrastructural challenges."

Hilda Macharia, a local Coca cola distributor, explains how the business has evolved over the years: "I started with 6,000 cases 5 years ago. This month I'm doing 32,000 cases. The pushcarts could no longer sustain the demand and the mechanization has really helped... because I'm able to get to the far end of my market in time."

Coca-Cola's CEO, Muhtar Kent, spoke with CNN's Zain Asher at the company's global headquarters in Atlanta, to discuss Coke's growth in Africa.

"The rate of growth in Africa is higher than that of Western markets and other parts of the world, so it'll continue to become a larger and larger part of our revenue," he said.

Coca-Cola now has 145 bottling plants in Africa and employs over 70,000 people, and it's one of the largest private employers in the continent.

"Last decade we invested about $5.5 billion in total in Africa. This decade we're earmarked to invest about 17 billion. So we're one of the largest investors on the whole in Africa."

And what about the growth of Pepsi, which is trying to up its game especially with operations in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya?

"We welcome competition. We think that competition is a benefit to everyone. It makes us operate better, it's a better environment for the company, it's a better environment for the consumer."

Court grants N600m bail to Metuh

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Friday granted bail to the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, in the sum of N300m with two sureties in like sum. The total  bail sum is N600m, according to Punch newspapers‎.

Metuh is already on remand in Kuje Prison by an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja with respect to charges of money laundering involving N400m, part of money meant for procurement of arms, which he collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014.

Justice Ishaq Bello, before whom ‎Metuh was on Thursday arraigned on two counts of destruction of evidence while in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation into the money laundering case, granted fresh bail to the PDP spokesperson on Friday, Punch reported.

The judge ordered that the residences of the two sureties to be presented by the accused should be verified by filing of documents in that respect before the court.

The application for bail was not opposed by ‎EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir.

While arguing the bail application orally on Friday, Metuh’s lawyer, Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), anchored the application on provisions of sections 158 and 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 as well as sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

The judge in his ruling agreed with the defence that the offences the accused was charged with were bailable and he was presumed innocent until proved guilty.

Metuh who was produced in court by prison officials on Friday is still in the process of fulfilling the N400m bail granted him by Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.