Author: Chronicle Editor

Former world number one Serena Williams won her first singles match on the WTA Tour for nearly 14 months as she returned after the birth of her child. Williams, 36, reached the second round at Indian Wells with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas. The American, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, was given a standing ovation as she walked onto court. It was her first singles match on Tour since she won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant. Her husband Alexis Ohanian was in the crowd. Williams gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia on 1 September. She…

An Igbosere High Court in Lagos has dismissed the no-case submission filed by the Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and the two engineers involved in the six-storey guesthouse that collapsed and killed 116 people, including 85 South Africans on 12 September, 2014. The Lagos State Government had sued the church over the building. The engineers – Ms Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun – were charged alongside their companies — Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd. They are facing 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter while the registered trustees of SCOAN were charged with…

The National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) has appealed to the Federal Government to remove legal restrictions on abortion to ensure safe services. Mrs Gloria Shoda, President of NCWS, made call at a one day sensitisation workshop for women on ‘Unsafe Abortion’ organised in collaboration with IPAS as part of activities to mark the 2018 International Women’s Day in Abuja. Shoda attributed the failure to reduce the high rate of death from unsafe abortion in Nigeria to lack of access to safe abortion. She said that there have been an increasing number of abortion cases throughout the world. The president…

Diego Costa scored as Atletico Madrid took a huge step towards a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League with victory over Lokomotiv Moscow. Costa netted his sixth goal in 12 appearances since moving back to the Spanish side from Chelsea in January. Saul Niguez and Koke were also on target for the 2010 and 2012 winners. Lokomotiv are seven points clear at the top of the Russian Premier League, but now face a substantial deficit going into next week’s return leg. “In the whole game we were superior,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. The home side opened the…

The US Customs and Border Patrol says it has intercepted one of the world’s most destructive pests of stored grains, cereals and seeds at two Washington-area airports this year. The insects were reportedly brought into the United States from Nigeria (23 February) and another from Saudi Arabia (24 January). An agency release Thursday said agriculture specialists at Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport recently encountered the Khapra beetle, the only insect it takes regulatory action against. READ: I share the sorrow, agony of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls – Aisha Buhari The statement describes the insect as…

Aisha Buhari, wife of the Nigerian President said today that she shares in the sorrow and agony of parents of abducted Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls and other abducted girls in the country. She expressed the concern in Abuja on Thursday while delivering a speech she titled: “Leave Our Daughters Alone”, to mark the 2018 International Women’s Day. “As a mother, I share (in) the sorrow and agony which the parents are going through up to this moment. “I am aware of the efforts being made for the release of the remaining Chibok girls as well as the recently (abducted) Dapchi…

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has invited Donald Trump to meet him, an unprecedented overture which the US leader has said he will accept. The shock announcement was made by senior South Korean officials in Washington, who passed on a letter from the North Korean leader. They said Mr Kim had also agreed to halt nuclear and missile tests and was “committed to denuclearisation”. It appears to be a major breakthrough after months of threats of violence. However analysts warn that such summits are usually the result of years of careful diplomacy so remain sceptical about what these rapidly arranged…

Former Minister of Aviation and current senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District, Stella Oduah, has disclosed that the Senate will soon reintroduce the 35 per cent affirmative action bill for women. Oduah who stated this on Thursday at a press conference in Abuja, as part of activities commemorating this year’s International Women’s Day noted that the bill would seek 35 per cent for women as ministers and 20 per cent for them as commissioners in states. The Senator who chairs the Senate Committee on Integration and Cooperation, pointed out that the Bill which was rejected by the Senate in July…

Arsenal put their recent problems to one side as a polished performance at fallen giants AC Milan gave them the upper hand in their Europa League last-16 tie. The Gunners arrived at the San Siro at arguably the lowest point of manager Arsene Wenger’s 22-year reign, yet responded to a run of four straight defeats with a confident and controlled display against their Italian hosts. Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first goal for the club put the Premier League side ahead, cutting in from the left to fire in with the aid of a deflection off Milan skipper Leonardo Bonucci. Wenger spoke before…

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi, did the unthinkable on Thursday by ordering the arrest of government officials from two warring communities in Ikwo Local Government Area for their alleged involvement in crisis in the area. Umahi gave the order on Thursday in Abakaliki during an enlarged security meeting convened on the resurged communal clash between Ekpomaka and Inyimegu communities of the area which claimed lives and destruction of property. The governor, who was livid with rage, ordered the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Titus Lamorde to arrest his Deputy Chief of Staff, Prof. Fidelis Okpata, traditional rulers and…