France will beat Spain, says Bacary Sagna

FRANCE international player and Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna is confident France will beat Spain in Sunday's quarterfinal of the Euro 2012. 
Sagna was speaking at Aspetar Qatar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha, after completing a 10 days treatment.  
Missing out of the European Championship because of the injury, Sagna confirmed his sole focus is on recovering fitness so that he can once again take his place on the right-side of Arsenal’s defence. 
“It’s a huge blow to miss the championship but I wasn’t thinking about that straight away because I didn’t know it was as bad as it was.” On the chances of France in the Euro, he said, “The French team is not doing badly except for the loss to Sweden on Tuesday. 

“We are in the quarterfinals pitted against Spain. It’s going to be a difficult game but if we remain consistent as we were, France will beat Spain. We have nothing to lose.”  The 29-year-old said he was not sure when he will be fully fit to be back in action. 
                                                            
The Frenchman had broken his right fibula midway through the first half at the Emirates in an English Premier League match. The scenario couldn’t have been worse as the defender had suffered a fracture in the same place earlier in the season when he collided with the advertising hoardings at Tottenham. The injury kept him out for four months. 

Speaking about his injury, Sagna said, “I didn’t know my injury was going to be as bad as it was at the time. 

“I was injured twice last season and decided to visit Qatar. I have been here for ten days and the atmosphere has been fantastic. “I am really pleased with the quality of nursing and treatment here." 

“To be honest, I don’t know when I will be fit. I want to take my time before returning to the field so as not to make the mistake of the past, returning so quickly but unfit,” Sagna said. 

Speaking on his Arsenal experience, the team he joined in the summer of 2007 from French Ligue 1 side Auxerre. “Arsenal is a great team; it’s the most watched out team in France. 

Joining Arsenal in 2007 was a dream come true for me. We have a good coach in Arsene Wenger and a good team. Arsene is a positive person and it has helped me as a man in life situations as I find myself.”


 The Arsenal defender capped 32 times by the French national team revealed that he had tried playing for his fatherland but was turned away unceremoniously. 

“I contacted the Senegalese FA to play for the team but was not given the chance, and when the French opportunity came I grabbed it.” Sagna said he had the opportunity of playing in Qatar when he was 18 but had other options then. 


Whether Sagna will play any part in Arsenal’s pre-season in Nigeria and Far-East Asia is not sure, although given the length of time he was sidelined last time it seems unlikely.

Sharp's largest TV on the planet cost N1.7m Naira

When your TV is longer diagonally than most people are tall, that's when you have the largest LED TV on the planet. 

As big as the screen is, so is its price. If you're interested in getting one of these sets and being the talk of the neighborhood, it's going to cost you quite a bit -- N1.7 Million Naira ($10,999.99) to be exact.

That's what Sharp has.

The Japanese company recently introduced what it contends is the largest LED TV in the world, announcing and launching the 90-inch Aquos LED TV.

The TV is 4 feet tall, 8 feet diagonally and more than 6 feet wide with a depth of 5 inches. Sharp says it  weighs 141 pounds. 

In addition to its impressive screen size, its other features seem solid.

The TV has a 1080p resolution and is equipped with Sharp's SmartCentral service, which has apps for Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus and others. The TV is also 3-D ready and comes with two 3-D glasses.

That's a lot, but then again, you don't build the biggest TV out there and then sell it for less.

Three Boko Haram members tagged as 'terrorist' by US

The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as "foreign terrorists", the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa's most populous nation.

The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, who it called the "most visible" leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda's north African wing.


"Under Shekau's leadership, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in northernNigeria, its primary area of operation. In the last 18 months, Boko Haram or associated militants have killed more than 1,000 people," the State Department said in an announcement.

"These designations demonstrate the United States' resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks," it said.

The action by the State and Treasury departments, first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, follows growing pressure on the Obama Administration to take stronger action against Boko Haram, which has stepped up attacks on Christian places of worship this year in its drive to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.

U.S. officials say the decision to list individual Boko Haram members, rather than apply the more sweeping "Foreign Terrorist Organization" label to the group as a whole as some U.S. lawmakers have demanded, reflected a desire not to elevate the group's profile.

The action freezes any assets the three men have in the United States, and bar U.S. persons from any transactions with them.