Author: Chronicle Editor

Deadly disease, Ebola, is spreading in Democratic Republic of Congo as a Catholic priest has been quarantined after being infected with the virus. He was infected in the town of Mbandaka, medical sources said Thursday. “We have quarantined a priest from the diocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro who tested positive” for the Ebola virus, a medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Religious authorities could not be immediately contacted. DRC health officials launched a small, targeted vaccination campaign this week to help rein in the latest Ebola outbreak in the country, which so far has claimed 27 lives. Kinshasa announced on…

A US federal court jury has ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years. Jurors tacked on an additional $5 million in damages for a pair of patented functions. The award appeared to be a bit of a victory for Apple, which had argued in court that design was essential to the iPhone. The case was keenly watched as a precedent for whether design is so important that it could actually be considered the “article of design” even in a product as complex as a smartphone. “We don’t…

Liverpool midfielder Emre Can, 24, will sign for Juventus by the end of the month, with the Italian giants’ chief executive Giuseppe Marotta saying he expects to wrap up a deal for the German international “within 10 days”. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian) Manchester United are willing to pay the £79m required to sign winger Douglas Costa from Bayern Munich. The 27-year-old Brazilian was on loan at Juventus last season and the Italian giants have the option to sign him permanently. (Sun) Elsewhere, United are unsure if they will pursue Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic after the Italian club put…

Three hundred Liverpool shirts have been sent to the small Senegalese village of Bambali in the buildup to the Champions League final, donated by Sadio Mane, its most famous son. On Saturday he aims to deliver on a promise to spare his childhood friend the despair and disbelief that accompanied Liverpool’s triumph in Istanbul. The gift set will be complete when he brings a European Cup winner’s medal back home. “I remember AC Milan v Liverpool in 2005,” Mane explains. “Three-nil down, then 3-3 and penalties. This was a big memory for me. I was watching in my village, Bambali.…

The Federal Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni scheme has successfully reached over 350,000 micro enterprises in all 36 states of Nigeria, and the Federal Capital City. This was revealed on Thursday, at the Kano State’s edition of Micro Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSME) Clinic by the Executive Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), Mrs. Toyin Adeniji. GEEP MarketMoni is a Federal Government Social Intervention Programme (SIP) that provides interest-free loans of N10,000 to N100,000 to microenterprises, the segments of society with the greatest difficulty accessing credit. The scheme, which is executed by BoI, a parastatal of the Federal…

Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Risk Capacity (ARC) to address the impact of extreme weather events. The ceremony, took place on the sideline of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday in Busan, South Korea. The MOU which also include training support to government personnel was in response to the bank’s President, Akinwumi Adesina’s pledge to support the ARC in the region. Adesina called for more stakeholders to join the ARC, to ensure the availability of insurance against natural disaster risks. The Bank and ARC have partnership since March 2017…

US actor and producer Morgan Freeman has apologised following allegations of sexual harassment made by eight women and several others. One production assistant accused Freeman of harassing her for months during filming of bank robbery comedy Going in Style, CNN reported. She said the 79-year-old touched her repeatedly, tried to lift her skirt and asked if she was wearing underwear. Freeman apologised to “anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected”. “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy,” he said in a statement. Making women…

Worldchoice Sports have left hundreds of Liverpool fans stranded for the Champions League final in Kiev after flight cancellation. Operator Worldchoice Sports said it could not secure landing slots at Kiev’s Boryspil Airport for three planes. Disappointed fans, who had paid up to £1,000 each for flights, were frantically trying to make alternative arrangements. Liverpool face Real Madrid on Saturday. In its statement, Widnes-based Worldchoice Sports said it would start to issue refunds from tomorrow. Liverpool FC said in a statement about 1,000 fans were involved and believed the issue was caused by a dispute caused by the size of…

The controversial Nigerian Peace Corps bill has finally been jettisoned as attempt by the House of Representatives to override President Muhammadu Buhari failed on Thursday. The House of Representatives which boasted it would override the veto of the Buhari could not achieve its aim. The bill seeks to turn the Peace Corps, currently a non-governmental organisation, into a government para-military agency. The bill, which was passed by the National Assembly amidst controversy was rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to sign it into law. Buhari in February refused to assent to the bill because it was a duplication of…

The Ugandan government is to introduce biometric gadgets for the implementation of daily salary payment for civil servants. The gadgets are to be introduced following the resolve of the government to start paying civil servants according to the number of days worked rather than a guaranteed monthly salary. Prof. Ezra Suruma, the head of the Delivery Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), said they are for a start installing the gadgets at public health and educational institutions to monitor clock-in, clock-out of health workers and teachers at their duty stations. Suruma said salaries of absentee civil servants…