Author: Chronicle Editor

Sweden’s parliament on Wednesday elected Social Democratic party leader and current Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first woman prime minister, after she clinched a last-minute deal securing key support. Andersson will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Stefan Lofven after a total of 117 members of parliament voted for her, while 57 abstained, 174 voted against and one was absent. Under Sweden’s system, a prime ministerial candidate does not need the support of a majority in parliament, they just need to not have a majority — or 175 votes — against them. The 54-year-old, who took over as leader of…

Sulemon Arowokoko, a 32-year-old Nigerian, was sentenced to 44 months in prison for identity theft by a jury in the United States of America on Tuesday. US District Judge Nicolas Ranjan found Arowokoko guilty of conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft, according to US Attorney Cindy K. Chung. The aggravated fraud was probed by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Justice Ranjan handed the term on Arowokoko of Pittsburgh, Pa., for his role in inducing financial institutions to issue credit and debit cards on victim clients’ accounts using stolen identity information.…

Australia on Wednesday classified neo-Nazi organisation The Base and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, as terrorist organisations. The classification makes it illegal for anyone to be a member of The Base, the white supremacist group formed in 2018, or Hezbollah. Anyone convicted of being a member can be imprisoned for up to 25 years. “There is absolutely no place in Australia for violent extremism. There is no cause – religious or ideological – that can justify killing innocent people,” Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews told reporters in Canberra. Hezbollah member found guilty in ex-Lebanese…

France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been found guilty of conspiring to blackmail a fellow French footballer with a sex tape. A judge handed Benzema a one-year suspended jail term and ordered him to pay a €75,000 (£63,000; $84,000) fine. Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over the attempt to extort Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena. The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places. The case dates back to June 2015, when the two footballers were at a French training camp. Benzema on trial over…

Ethiopian Olympic legend Haile Gebrselassie has announced plans to go to the battle front, just a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced he was joining the fight against rebel forces from the northern region of Tigray. Also joining Gebrselassie at the war front is distance runner Feyisa Lilesa, who became famous for his protest at the 2016 Rio Olympics for crossing his wrists over his head – a sign showing anger against how the government was treating the Oromo people. Several high-profile Ethiopians have made similar announcements as fighting intensifies and rebels saying they are advancing towards the capital…

Malawi has written former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to be the ambassador for the country’s cannabis crop. Minister Lobin Lowe said the legalisation of cannabis last year in Malawi had created opportunities locally and internationally. The ministry said the United States Cannabis Association was facilitating the deal with Tyson. “Malawi may not go it alone as the industry is complex requiring collaboration. I would therefore like to appoint you, Mr Mike Tyson, as Malawi’s Cannabis Branch ambassador,” Mr Lowe wrote. Uber Eats to begin cannabis delivery Tyson is also an entrepreneur and has invested in a cannabis farm.…

The Senate on Wednesday stepped down two reports on bills seeking to establish the Federal University of Education Numan, and the Federal College of Forestry, Wawa Zange Dukku in Gombe state. The reports were presented by Senator Nora Daduut on behalf of the Chairman, Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita. The reports for the establishment of the two institutions were stepped down by the chamber after it suspended the clause-by-clause consideration of both bills in a Committee of the whole. While clauses 1 to 5 of the bill to establish the University of Education Numan were…

Apple is suing Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and its parent company for allegedly targeting iPhone users with a hacking tool. NSO’s Pegasus software can infect both iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones and cameras. NSO Group said its tools were made to target terrorists and criminals. But it has allegedly also been used on activists, politicians and journalists. NSO Group says it only supplies Pegasus to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from countries with good human-rights records. However earlier this month, US officials placed the company…

Blinding Lights by Canadian pop star The Weeknd has become the number one song of all time on Billboard’s music charts. According to Billboard, Blinding Lights has now spent 90 weeks in the top 100 chart. The song ousted Chubby Checker’s 1960s hit The Twist to clinch the top spot. The Billboard 100 has been charting top songs according to radio plays, sales and streaming for the past 63 years. The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, released Blinding Lights in November 2019. By September 2021, it had been streamed more than 2.5 billion times on Spotify. Its popularity has been…

A Missouri man wrongfully convicted of a triple murder in 1978 and imprisoned for more than 42 years has been exonerated and released. Kevin Strickland, 62, has maintained his innocence since his arrest at age 18. He was sentenced in June 1979. Mr Strickland said outside court: “I didn’t think this day would come.” It was the longest wrongful incarceration in Missouri history, but under Missouri law he is unlikely to receive any financial compensation. According to data from the National Registry of Exonerations, which has logged exonerations since 1989, it would also be the seventh longest wrongful sentence acknowledged…