Infotainment From Naija

Thursday, 17 June 2021

#Euro2020: Another blow for Coca-Cola, as Manuel Locatelli follows Cristiano Ronaldo’s example by keeping bottles aside at press conference (Video)

Cola company continued to take one hit after another at the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020 tournament as another top footballer gave it the snub on Wednesday (June 18). Italy’s Manuel Locatelli, who was the start of his side’s win by scoring twice against Switzerland, followed the example set by Portugal’s superstar Cristiano Ronaldo by setting aside the Coca-Cola bottles out of the camera’s view before sitting down for the press conference..

Ronaldo had looked horrified when he spotted the fizzy drinks on the table when he spoke to the media earlier this week, placing them out of sight of the cameras and holding up his own bottle of water to the camera instead.

Ronaldo’s actions caused a major stir, with Coca-Cola’s share price falling by $4 billion as the world’s most famous footballer urged his millions of fans to ditch the drink in favour of water. There were similar scenes on Tuesday night when France midfielder Paul Pogba gave his own post-match press conference, though this time Manchester United’s devout Muslim removed a bottle of Heineken beer from the table.

Now Locatelli has become the third player to take on Euro 2020’s sponsors, removing two bottles of Coca-Cola from their place front and centre of the table and putting his own bottle of water directly in front of him instead.

Thursday, 7 January 2021

Court orders President Trump’s arrest

A court in Baghdad has issued a warrant for the arrest of the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, as part of its investigation into the killing of a top Iraqi paramilitary commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Al-Muhandis, who was the Deputy Head of Iraq’s largely pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network, was killed in the same US drone strike that took out Iranian general Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad airport on January 3 last year.

Trump, who ordered the strike, subsequently boasted that it had taken out “two (men) for the price of one”.

The UN special rapporteur for an extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, has called the twin killings as “arbitrary” and “illegal”.

Iran already issued a warrant for the arrest of Trump in June and asked Interpol to relay it as a so-called red notice to other police forces around the world.

The court for east Baghdad has now issued the warrant for Trump’s arrest under Article 406 of the penal code, which provides for the death penalty in all cases of premeditated murder, the judiciary said.

The court said the preliminary inquiry had been completed but “investigations are continuing to unmask the other culprits in this crime, be they Iraqis or foreigners.”