Google has unveiled Gemini Code Assist, a free version of their AI-coding assistant, for individuals. According to a statement shared with Technext, the development assistant powered by Gemini 2.0 is now available to Nigerian developers. Going forward, Nigerian developers can use natural language in a variety of languages in Gemini Code Assist to generate, explain and improve code. The AI coding assistant now also supports all programming languages in the public domain and is optimised ...

The Vatican announces death of 88-year-old head of Roman Catholic Church. Al Jazeera Live Follow Al Jazeera English:...

Real Madrid's 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Wednesday was briefly stopped just before half-time by the referee after home fans directed chants at Los Blancos defender Raul Asencio. Chants of "Asencio, die!" were aimed at the 21-year-old and he was substituted at half-time of the Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg with manager Carlo Ancelotti later saying the player had been "affected" by the incident. Madrid captain Vinicius Jr informed referee Jose Maria Sanchez of the chants and he made managers and the police aware of the situation and activated Spain's 'anti-hate protocol'. A message of: "No to racist, xenophobic or intolerant chants. Support the team and respect the opponent," was aired over the stadium Tannoy and the game restarted. The announcement was greeted by whistles from a section of fans, who also started targeting Vinicius Jr with abuse. "He did the right thing. Vini Jr spoke to the referee and he stopped the game. He applied the protocol and did a good job," said Ancelotti. "I brought Asencio off at half-time because he was a bit wound up and had a yellow card. "It's not very nice for anyone to have an entire stadium chanting 'die' at you, so that had an effect on him. I opted to bring him off because his feelings may have got to him during the game." It is not clear what led to the chants, but it has been reported that Asencio is part of a police investigation in Spain. "We condemn the insults," Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal said. "We don't like it. I think there are other ways of condemning what happened, or acts that may have been committed, but this isn't the right way to do it." Asencio, a product of the Real academy, made his debut for the European champions in November and has played 26 senior games this season. On the pitch, Endrick scored the only goal of the game to give Madrid a 1-0 aggregate lead going into the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. The teenager latched on to a brilliant ball over the top from Jude Bellingham in the and slotted home to open the scoring. Real Madrid have won the Copa del Rey 20 times and are strong favourites to reach the 2025 final, with the second leg taking place on 1 April at the Bernabeu stadium.

Pep Guardiola admitted his wild celebration of Matheus Nunes’s stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa felt strange because Manchester City don’t score as many late goals as their Premier League rivals. Nunes fired City to a crucial 2-1 victory over top-five rivals Villa in the fourth minute of stoppage-time at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. Guardiola responded to Nunes’s composed finish from an acute angle by launching into a frenzied fist-pumping dance of joy including a primal roar that underlined the significance of the result. City had been seconds away from a damaging result in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top five finish. But now they control their own fate with four games left in their turbulent league season, thanks to an unusual feeling of last-gasp success. “We’re not used to it. That belongs to Liverpool especially, how many times did they score late winners under Jurgen (Klopp) and Arsenal under Mikel (Arteta) as well? I’m not used to it, so I’m really, really happy,” Guardiola said. “Football is emotion. For the fans, players, we have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League. “The players behave unbelievable. We are so pleased. We’re in the last four games and we’re a Champions League contender for qualification.” Nunes’s first league goal for City came after Aston Villa striker Marcus Rashford converted a controversial penalty to cancel out Bernardo Silva’s early opener. Guardiola was booked for ranting at the fourth official after VAR intervened to call for a penalty after Ruben Dias made contact with Jacob Ramsey. But, with time running out, City enjoyed a rare uplifting moment in a difficult campaign that will see them surrender the title they had won in the previous four seasons. – ‘The season has been bad’ – Guardiola will be happy with a top five berth in the circumstances this term. “Aston Villa is a team to the last man, one of the top teams in Europe. But we played really good. We were aggressive in our duels, the back four was unbelievable,” he said. “Football if you’re in this business to live with the disappointment. The performance was really good and we were able to do it. “The season has been bad. The reality is what makes you feel good is the Premier League.” Seventh-placed Villa are now two points adrift of the top five with four games left. It was a bitter blow after their agonising Champions League quarter-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain last week. But boss Unai Emery called on his players to bounce back in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley. “We can’t waste time, we lost in the last minute of this match, but we competed well. We were close to drawing,” he said. “Over 90 minutes Man City dominated more, but we played a good competitive match. “We can’t waste time now, we have to keep going. We want to try keep the level that we’re achieving and try to be demanding in our way so we can build us stronger in everything. “Tomorrow, rest. Thursday and Friday, positive and work hard to prepare for the game against Crystal Palace.” AFP