Author: Chronicle Editor

Manchester United are close to agreeing personal terms with Real Madrid’s France defender Raphael Varane, 27, who has been a long-term target to partner Harry Maguire. (Mail) Hector Bellerin has told Arsenal he wants to leave in the summer transfer window. The 26-year-old Spain defender, who is the longest-serving member of Mikel Arteta’s first-team squad, is hoping for a move to Inter Milan. (Metro) Manchester City have ruled out a move for Barcelona’s France striker Antoine Griezmann, 30, but will step up their interest in Borussia Dortmund and Norway forward Erling Braut Haaland, 20, and Tottenham’s England captain Harry Kane,…

Pretoria has begun deploying troops on the streets of several South African cities on the fourth day of massive protests in which at least six people have been killed. The demonstrations sparked by the detention of former President Jacob Zuma are also being driven by massive unemployment and economic malaise caused by COVID-19 lockdowns. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address Monday evening that the protests would soon lead to shortages in food and medicine if they didn’t stop, and had already interrupted the country’s vaccination programme at a time the government is attempting to ramp up…

A man from China has been reunited with his son after a 24-year search that saw him travel over 500,000km (310,000 mi) on a motorbike across the country. Guo Gangtang’s son had been snatched aged two by human traffickers in front of their home in Shandong province. His son’s disappearance actually inspired a movie in 2015, which starred Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau. Child abductions are a big problem in China, with thousands taken every year. According to China’s Ministry of Public Security, the police were able to trace his son’s identity using DNA testing. Two suspects were later tracked down…

England and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford apologised for his penalty shootout miss but said he “will never apologise for who I am” after he was one of three players subjected to racist abuse following England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy. Rashford, along with Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed their spot-kicks. All three were targeted on social media after the game. “I felt as if I’d let everyone down,” Rashford wrote in a statement. The 23-year-old added: “I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in…

Democrats in the Texas legislature have left their state en masse in an effort to prevent Republicans there from passing a law to tighten voting rules. The move will temporarily paralyse the state’s House of Representatives, which requires at least two-thirds of lawmakers be present for a vote. At least 50 House Democrats boarded two private jets from Austin to Washington DC on Monday. The move comes amid a wave of voting restrictions in Republican-led states. An important first vote on the sweeping voting legislation proposed by Texas Republicans was planned for later this week. The bill would outlaw 24-hour…

The Federal High Court will on July 26 proceed on a three-week annual recess, the Chief Information Officer Catherine Oby Christopher, said on Monday. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Honorable Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, who made the announcement, said the vacation would last till September 17 and is pursuant to the provisions of Order 46, Rule 4 (d) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019. Although the court is expected to resume sitting on September 20, the Abuja, Lagos and Port-Harcourt divisions will remain functional throughout the vacation. “It is essential to stress that…

Nigeria’s winning streak against top teams continued on Monday as D’Tigers beat Argentina 94-71 in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. D’Tigers were two points behind Argentina after 10 minutes of the first quarters but soon turned the game around to win by 23 points. Coach Mike Brown is preparing his team the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in spectacular fashion and Nigeria will definitely be one team to watch out for. Only two days ago, Nigeria beat the number one ranked team in world, defeating USA 90-87. D’Tigers proved this was not a fluke when they beat Argentina, the fourth ranked…

Confirms that investigation report was sent to SGF by NYSC Former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun was not asked to resign by the Presidency, a top official close to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has said. Another top National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) official confirmed that indeed an investigation was conducted and the report circulated in the Presidency and few other top offices in the Federal Government. According to official sources, weeks after she was accused of using an allegedly forged NYSC exemption letter, Mrs Adeosun resigned of her own volition having had…

Suspected Fulani herdsmen, on Sunday stormed Makarau in Jankasa community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing nine people. A source from the affected community told newsmen that scores of natives have fled their homes to neighbouring communities following the attack and destruction of lives and properties. He added that he was not sure of those injured and the number of houses destroyed. Recall that the fresh attack is coming barely 72 hours after a similar attack on Warkan community in the same local government area where nine people were also killed and many sustained injuries with…

The Lagos Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested three bankers for an alleged case of conspiracy, stealing, forgery and obtaining money by false pretence. The suspects, Kagha Emmanuel Uchenna, Okoro Chinasom Davidson and Egbogu Emmanuel Obiora, who are employees of one of the new generation banks, allegedly conspired and defrauded a customer of the bank of the sum of N51,978,883.37 (Fifty-one Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy-eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty-three Naira, Thirty-seven Kobo) Investigations revealed that the trio forged the signature and National Identification Management (NIM) number slip of the customer, activated his…