Author: Chronicle Editor

Champions League holders Chelsea will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals as they seek to win the prestigious trophy back to back. Manchester City will play Atletico Madrid, while Liverpool tackle Benfica and Bayern Munich take on Villarreal. In the semi-finals, the winner of the Chelsea v Real Madrid tie will face Atletico Madrid or Manchester City, while Benfica or Liverpool will play either Villarreal or Bayern Munich. The two-leg quarter-finals take place on 5-6 April and 12-13 April. The first legs of the semi-finals will be on 26-27 April, and the second legs on 3-4 May. The Stade de…

Nigeria has been ranked 114 in the Happiest Countries in the World 2022 ranking that was released on Friday. The latest ranking sees the most populous Black country move up one step from its 2021 ranking of 115. Despite the gain, Nigeria has slipped many places year on year. In Africa, Mauritius ranks number 46 in the world and number one on the continent. Since 2002, the World Happiness Report has used statistical analysis to determine the world’s happiest countries. The World Happiness Report is a publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It contains articles and rankings…

By Femi Adesina Have you ever met a religious bigot before? Pray that you don’t. It’s not an interesting experience, irrespective of the faith the bigot professes. A bigot is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, and is prejudiced against or antagonistic towards a person or people who don’t share what he believes. I ask again: have you met a religious bigot before? Pray that you don’t. And if you unfortunately do, don’t argue, don’t remonstrate with such person. Just show a clean pair of heels. President Muhammadu Buhari is a man that had been serially de-marketed, flagellated…

• Recover 23 Rifles, 2,200 live ammunition, three stolen cars, N1.8 million The Nigeria Police Force has announced the arrest of 30 persons involved in crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery, arms smuggling, unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, car theft, rape, receiving stolen goods, amongst others. The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba has charged Police Operatives across the country to sustain the tempo in the fight to curb violent crimes in the country. The IGP who lauded the results of efforts emplaced to roll back the negative trend of crimes, commended the Force Intelligence Bureau Special Tactical Squad (FIB-STS)…

The Federal Government says it will deal decisively and sanction any depot owner caught selling petroleum products beyond the approved ex-depot price in the country. Timipre Sylva, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, made this known on Thursday in Abuja while briefing newsmen on its effort to resolve the issue of fuel scarcity in the country. Sylva urged the public to report any one who tried to take advantage of the situation for sanctioning as required by the law. “We are aware, just like President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement, that there are some Depot Owners who are taking advantage…

Barcelona have expressed interest in signing Manchester United’s England forward Marcus Rashford, 24. Rashford agreed a £200,000-a-week United contract until June 2023 in 2019 but has struggled for form this season. (Manchester Evening News) United’s Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, is set to stay at Manchester United next season, with interim manager Ralf Rangnick likely to leave. (AS) Arsenal are keen on signing Real Madrid’s former Chelsea forward Eden Hazard, 31. The Belgium international joined Real in 2019. (FootMercato – in French) Benfica have placed a £67m price tag on Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez, 22, who has helped his Portuguese…

Australia has launched legal action against Facebook’s parent company Meta, alleging it allowed scam ads to target users with fake celebrity endorsements. The tech giant had engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by knowingly hosting the ads for bogus cryptocurrencies, a regulator said. The US company could face financial and other penalties. Meta is yet to comment but has previously said it is committed to keeping scammers off its platforms. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the ads in question used Facebook’s algorithms to target susceptible users and featured bogus quotes by Australian celebrities. Identities used without…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his seventh goal in as many games to help Barcelona beat Galatasaray in the Europa League. The ex-Arsenal player hit the winner to complete an impressive comeback after Galatasaray had taken the lead. With the tie poised at 0-0 after the first leg, Brazilian defender Marcao gave the hosts the lead before Pedri equalised with a fine individual goal. Aubameyang’s 49th-minute winner sent Barca into Friday’s quarter-final draw. Barca ran down the clock, infuriating the home crowd who started throwing bottles and plastic cups onto the field and the referee stopped the game for a few minutes…

Alex Iwobi’s 99th-minute goal earned Everton a massive victory in their fight against relegation as they held on to beat Newcastle despite being reduced to 10 men. An average game, which was delayed by a protestor tying himself to a goalpost by his neck, came to life late on when Anthony Gordon tested Martin Dubravka with a curling shot. But the mood soon turned sour when Allan was sent off with seven minutes remaining for taking out Newcastle substitute Allan Saint-Maximin after referee Craig Pawson consulted the pitchside monitor and overturned his initial decision to book the Everton midfielder. At…

Former governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, has been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday evening. Obiano was nabbed at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport hours after he handed over to incumbent governor, Chukwuma Charles Soludo. The two-term governor was on his way to Huston, Texas when he was arrested by the anti-graft agency. The EFCC operatives has since taken him into their custody for questioning. Anambra liberated, says Bianca Ojukwu after fight with Obiano’s wife Obiano has been on the watchlist of the anti-graft agency for a while. More to follow…