Raiders find winning formula again in topping Saints
Leading entrepreneur and founder of the Econet Group, Strive Masiyiwa, was on Thursday night awarded at the prestigious Zimbabwe ICT Excellence Awards held at Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. Masiyiwa, widely celebrated for his pioneering contributions to innovation and technology, was honoured for his significant impact on the country’s telecommunications and ICT sector. The event marked a historic occasion as it revived the awards, which had been suspended for a decade. The ceremony celebrated outstanding achievements in various sectors of technology, innovation, and digital media. In her address at the event, ICT Minister Tatenda Mavetera highlighted the importance of the awards, stating that they are a vital way to recognize the exceptional work and dedication of individuals and organizations contributing to the growth of Zimbabwe’s technology landscape. “The decade-long silence of not honouring our telecommunications sector heroes and heroines comes to an end tonight,” Minister Mavetera said. “By honouring those who demonstrate exceptional performance and quality in their ICT initiatives, these awards foster a culture of excellence that is essential for both the public and private sectors.” The awards ceremony featured a range of categories, including Best ICT Journalist, Best Social Media Influencer, and Best ICT Industry Disruptor. Among the notable winners was Evans Mathanda, an online reporter from Alpha Media Holdings, who received a Certificate of Excellence in recognition of his outstanding work in the ICT Journalist of the Year category. Masiyiwa’s award, in particular, served as a reminder of his transformative role in the technology sector, with Econet Group playing a pivotal role in revolutionizing telecommunications and mobile money services in Zimbabwe. The event was seen as a turning point for the nation’s ICT sector, bringing attention to the many achievements of local innovators and setting the stage for future growth and investment in the field. Source – newsday
'The White Company's best Black Friday deals picked by a shopping expert'A teenage West Ham academy goalkeeper has died aged 15 after suffering from cancer. Oscar Fairs from Benfleet, Essex, was diagnosed with a rare 7cm ependymoma brain tumour in August 2023 and underwent seven surgeries, one round of chemotherapy and one round of radiotherapy to be told palliative care was the only option. A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family raise £100,000 towards a treatment trial in France. West Ham footballers donated £27,000, chairman David Sullivan donated £10,000 and Arsenal footballer and former West Ham star Declan Rice gave £5,000, according to Ms Fairs. On Friday, West Ham announced that the 15-year-old had died. Sporting director Mark Noble said: “Oscar was adored by everyone at the Academy – not only was he a great goalkeeper, he was a true Hammer and a fantastic young person, who will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure to know him. “I have wonderful memories of Oscar playing in my garden – (my son) Lenny and his teammates all loved him. “He was a friendly, happy, well-mannered and polite young man, who had such a bright future ahead of him, and it is just so unimaginably devastating that he has been taken from his family and friends at this age. “The thoughts and sincere condolences of everyone at the Club are with Oscar’s parents, Natalie and Russell, and his brother Harry, and we kindly ask that the family’s privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time.” All scheduled Academy fixtures over the weekend have been postponed as a mark of respect.Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,445 Shares of Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)
UBC Flexible Offices Welcomes New Board Member Harun BiswasStill, at least Manchester City can now concentrate on the Ballon d’Or. There was a lavish celebration for the world’s best player before this game: the word RODRI illuminated in giant letters on the pitch like a Vegas cabaret show, City’s injured midfield linchpin holding his trophy aloft as fireworks lit the night sky. The tailoring was immaculate; the audiovisuals impressive; the crowd rapt. And then came a game of football, in which the champions were beaten 4-0 by a team with Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies at centre-half. It was City’s biggest home defeat in more than two decades: the sort of result that draws small involuntary gasps, that causes spectators to get their phones out and zoom in on the scoreboard, capturing for posterity this curious rip in the space‐time fabric. What it was not, however, was a shock. At least, not for anyone more than vaguely acquainted with City’s football over recent weeks. A fifth consecutive loss – six if you count the Premier League vote on associated party transactions on Friday – is of less significance than the recurring manner of those losses: City being undone not by fluke or happenstance but by teams who were simply braver than them, stronger, more imaginative, more united. And yes, City keep getting done on the counterattack. But just as relevant as the counterattack is what comes before and after: the limp and uncoordinated efforts to win the ball back, the reluctant and rote shuffling back into position, second and third runners not being picked up, the 50-50s not being won. These are issues not of tactics or shape but of conditioning, physical and mental. Nor is this simply a Rodri problem, as brilliant a player as he is, as yawning the gaps were in midfield here as Tottenham poured forward with numbers. The malaise here is collective: witness the first goal, as a puffing Ilkay Gündogan simply lets James Maddison go, delegating what should have been his job with an urgent outstretched arm that nobody sees. But Josko Gvardiol also lets Dejan Kulusevski cut inside, the centre-halves fail to space correctly, and there was insufficient pressure on the ball to begin with. The common theme here: everyone is relying on someone else to bail them out. There is a sense of shirked responsibility here, of leaving the extra yard to others. Again with the second goal in the 20th minute, Gvardiol with the slack pass to Gündogan, nobody covering Maddison’s reverse run. Again with the third, Kulusevski simply shrugging off Phil Foden, City players bumping into each other like Minions, Spurs tearing up the field and scoring again. No champion team should ever be this fatally reliant on a single man. Pep Guardiola has found solutions in the past and will doubtless find them again. But right now he needs his players to step up. Since his sparkling start to the season Erling Haaland has scored two goals in his last seven league games, from an xG of 7.8. In short, he is basically finishing about as well as you would with his chances at the moment. What this means, on the other hand, is anyone’s guess. Is this an implosion? The end of an era? Or basically the characteristic autumn blip from a team who are still second in the league and will probably still romp to the title by five points? In short, are we the ones overthinking this? Maybe. Certainly Guardiola was in bullish mood after this game, assuring us this group of players were still champion footballers, that he still had everything he needed to turn this around. But even if this run of results is unprecedented, there have been enough portents – Wolves, Fulham, Inter, Arsenal – to suggest this is a trend rather than an anomaly. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Guardiola talks a lot about his trophies these days. He rarely misses an opportunity to blazon what this team have achieved, to celebrate and revel in their dominance. And, you know, fair enough. But perhaps it is also the hallmark of a regime increasingly preoccupied with projection, with how things look and are portrayed. The timing of his new contract announcement, which frankly could have happened any time between now and May. The legal battle with the Premier League, the furious briefings, the litany of documentaries and content, a Ballon d’Or celebration immediately before a key league game. Of course a little aura and hubris is no bad thing. But it needs to be tied to fundamentals. Right now, those fundamentals are absent. What remains is a club being run on vibes and past glories, a team that basically looks a little drunk right now on its own imperial grandeur. Perhaps this is not yet the time to burn things down and start again. But it is at least worth asking whether this team has anything new to show us.