Author: Chronicle Editor

Britain’s parliament votes Wednesday on holding a snap election in June, as Prime Minister Theresa May seeks to make strong gains against the opposition before gruelling Brexit negotiations. May, who made the shock call for an early election on Tuesday, needs to bolster her narrow majority of 17 seats ahead of likely tortuous talks with Brussels that could re-open old wounds within her Conservative Party. “I believe this will strengthen our hand in negotiations,” May told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, arguing that opposition parties were “intent on frustrating the Brexit process”. May had for months ruled out…

Three persons have been arrested in connection with a recent mob attack on a patrol team of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra, the agency said. In a statement issued in Abuja, Spokesman’s of the FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem, said the suspects were arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Anambra State Police Command. According to him, the three are suspected to be part of the mob that attacked the FRSC personnel after an offending commercial motorcyclist fell while trying to evade arrest by the team. Earlier, there was speculation on the Internet that the FRSC…

Germany’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is out for the rest of the season after fracturing his left foot in Bayern Munich’s Champions League defeat at Real Madrid, his club announced on Wednesday. The Bayern shot-stopper and Germany captain suffered the injury while trying unsuccessfully to stop Cristiano Ronaldo netting his third goal in the 109th minute at the Bernabeu as defending holders Real won 4-2 after extra-time on Tuesday. “He’s broken his foot,” confirmed Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The 31-year-old faces eight weeks on the sidelines and is likely to sit out Germany’s Confederations Cup campaign in Russia, which starts on…

Former Premier League stars Michael Essien and Carlton Cole are being investigated in Indonesia after their new club admitted it had failed to obtain work permits to allow them to play. The two players were signed with great fanfare last month by Persib Bandung, one of the country’s top clubs, as Indonesian football looks to launch a new league and emerge from a FIFA suspension. But the government-backed Professional Sports Agency found Essien and Cole did not have the necessary work permits and they could now face questioning by immigration authorities. The club admitted on Monday it did not have…

Parents who cannot raise school fees for children can offer livestock in lieu of payment or do chores for learning institutions, a Cabinet minister has said. The Sunday Mail understands that several State-run primary schools in Glen View, Harare have already adopted the arrangement. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora told this paper last week, “Our schools have to be flexible and ensure those who do not have money to pay fees can work. For example, if there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of…

Pedro Hernandez jailed for 1979 murder of six-year-old Etan Patz A man has been sentenced to at least 25 years behind bars for kidnapping and murdering a six-year-old boy in New York – almost four decades after the infamous crime. Etan Patz was walking to his school bus stop alone for the first time when he was abducted by Pedro Hernandez in May 1979. The clerk, who was 18 at the time, lured Etan into the basement of the convenience store where he worked by promising him a soda. He then choked him and put his body out with the…

Kano state’s para-soccer team on Tuesday in Abuja emerged winners of the second edition of the National Para-Soccer League. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kano won all their games in the competition to retain the title they first won back home in 2016. The Kano state team played seven games at the competition to earn 14 points, with Yobe finishing second and Katsina state third. Speaking at the end of the competition, Ibrahim Musa, the head coach of the Kano team, said he was happy his team won the title for the second time. “I give God…

Ghana has expunged the names of 26,589 ghost names from its payroll and also about 23,029 unidentified pensioners will be deleted this month. Ministry of Finance on Tuesday said the action was taken to save huge revenue. “The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has directed that names of 26,589 public sector workers be removed from the payroll commencing from April 2017. “Since those affected have not been registered on the new SSNIT biometric system, in spite of several directives to do so,” a release from the ministry explained. During the presentation of the 2017 budget, the first by the current…

Former President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalised in Houston for four days with a recurrence of a case of pneumonia he had earlier in the year, a family spokesman said Tuesday. The 92-year-old father of former President George W. Bush has been in Methodist Hospital since Friday for observation because of a persistent cough, Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said in a brief statement. He said doctors diagnosed a mild case of pneumonia that has been treated and resolved. The former president “is in very good spirits and is being held for further observation while he regains his strength,” McGrath…

An ex-wife of the factional leader of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Mamman Nur in the person of Fatima Muhammad Kabir was among the two teenage suspected suicide bombers intercepted by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Borno State Command and paraded before the press on Tuesday in Maiduguri. The girl, Fatima Muhammad Kabir, aged 15 years had once married Mamman Nur as one of her three husbands in two years while she was in captivity with the Boko Haram insurgents. Now four months pregnant, Fatima was said to have tested positive to HIV according to the NSCDC Commandant,…