Author: Chronicle Editor

Head of Madrid region Cristina Cifuentes has stepped down amid shoplifting allegations, weeks after being accused of forging a masters degree. A video has emerged from 2011 allegedly showing Cifuentes handing items to a supermarket security guard. It is claimed she had taken two pots of anti-ageing cream. She was then number two in the Madrid assembly. Ms Cifuentes, 53, gave up her master’s last week when it emerged that two signatures on the document were forged. A prominent figure in Spain’s ruling centre-right PP (Partido Popular), Ms Cifuentes had already come under pressure from political opponents to resign because…

Popular messaging service WhatsApp is banning under-16s from using its platform in the European Union. Users must currently be at least 13, but the firm is changing the rules ahead of the introduction of new EU data privacy regulations in May. The app, which is owned by Facebook, will ask users to confirm their age when prompted to agree new terms of service in the next few weeks. It has not said how the age limit will be enforced. At present, WhatsApp does not ask users their age when they join, nor does it cross-reference their Facebook or Instagram accounts…

By Gbadebo Oluwaseun All Progressives Congress, APC, will at its national convention elect its national chairman and the APC Governors Forum is expected to have a say in the outcome. Incumbent national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun will face fierce challenge from former union leader, Adams Oshiomhole. With the national convention slated for 14 May, contestants have begun to solicit votes but it is those of the governors, most of whom control the party structure at state level that might determine the winner. At a dinner with President Muhammadu Buhari who is seeking a second term in office, APC governors hinted…

Arsenal believe they can convince former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique to succeed Arsene Wenger as their manager. The Gunners’ head of football relations Raul Sanllehi worked with Enrique at the Nou Camp. (Mirror) Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, another candidate to take over from Wenger at Arsenal, has been offered the Italy job. (Times – subscription required) Former Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood, who appointed Wenger in 1996, says it is the right time for the Frenchman to step down. (Star) Germany manager Joachim Low is reluctant to take over from Wenger as he is concerned he would be “burnt out”…

Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appears to have suffered a “really bad” injury during Tuesday’s 5-2 Champions League win against Roma, says manager Jurgen Klopp. The England international, 24, was taken off on a stretcher in the 15th minute after appearing to hurt his knee when challenging Aleksandar Kolarov. “It’s probably a really bad injury,” Klopp told BT Sport. “If you can say that already before the scan then it’s never good news.” Oxlade-Chamberlain has enjoyed an impressive debut season for Liverpool since joining from Arsenal for £35m last August. READ: SA referee Victor Gomes offered $30,000 to fix game in…

An Indian spiritual guru has been found guilty of rape by a court in the northern city of Jodhpur ruled that Asaram Bapu raped a 16-year-old girl in 2013 at his ashram there. He is likely to appeal against the verdict in a higher court. The guru, who is 77, has 400 ashrams around the world where he teaches meditation and yoga. He is also on trial in another rape case in Gujarat state. Jodhpur is on high alert because of concerns there could be violence from the guru’s supporters. The court is expected to announce his sentence later in…

All the 24 governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress(APC) on Tuesday night announced their endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidature for the 2019 presidential election. Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo made the position of the governors known to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President at the Presidential villa, Abuja. The President, had at the last APC National Executive Committee meeting, declared his intention to run for second term in 2019. Okorocha, told the correspondents that they communicated their support for the President’s reelection bid at the meeting. “We came to…

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, APC National Chairman, has described as “absolutely childish”, the endorsement of former governor of Edo, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, by South-South stakeholders. He told newsmen at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday that it was “childish, absolutely childish”, stressing that, voting is done at convention and not in State Houses or in Government Houses,” he said. Odigie-Oyegun, who did not confirm if he would seek re-election as APC national chairman or not, however, said he had concluded consultations and would make his decision public in a few days. “The consultation, I think is concluded; I’m going…

A South Africa referee Victor Gomes has reported an attempt to bribe him to fix the outcome of a match in Nigeria to the Confederation of African Football, CAF. Gomes said that he rejected a $30,000 (about N10.8 million) bribe to fix the CAF Confederation Cup match between Nigeria’s Plateau United and Algeria’s USM Alger. Gomes was in Lagos along with his assistants Johannes Moshidi and Athenkosi Ndongeni‚ and regular South African Premier Soccer League referee, Thando Ndzandzeka‚ who acted as the fourth official. Plateau United won the first leg second round fixture played in Lagos 2-1 but CAF is…

Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa Group, UBA, has released its unaudited first quarter results, showing significant growth across major income lines. Following a sterling performance in the 2017 financial year, UBA Group delivered another impressive 18% percent year-on-year growth in gross earnings in the first three months of 2018. Leveraging on strong growth in both interest and non-interest income, UBA grew top-line to N119.4 billion in the first three months of the year, ending March 31st 2018 and the Group recorded N26.6 billion in profit before tax, compared to N25.5 billion achieved in the first quarter of…